What? What? What?
by GypsyTimeLady5147
Summary: Jessica Gale, American, works in a pizza restaurant in California, has a run in with two men who'll change her life for good. Although they never seem to meet in the right order. Rated M for mature themes and cause I like writing content that makes you think. Doctor/OC and Jack/OC. AU NEW AND IMPROVED!
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Yes, I know it's been a long time. So long, in fact, that I wasn't happy with the version of Chapter One that I had. I'm sure of this being the official version this time and I have Two done and Three's at least half-way done. So sorry for annoying you fans, but at least I know this version's going to last longer. **

**I'm also going to school for a BS, so my updates might be erratic, but I'm very confident that I'll keep plugging away. Hope you all understand.**

"But ... "

"Hey, Jess? Do you think you can handle register for a few minutes?"

_Absolutely not!_ My initial response never made it past the thought stage. _It's just ten more minutes. You can do this, girl._

Pasting a smile on a face that had gone numb, I trudged back to the front, tucking a strand of my ever-escaping mouse brown hair back under the cap. I did _not_ have the migraine of the century. I did _not_ feel like I'd get sick at any second. Perfectly, fine, beach-blonde happy. Minus the blonde.

"Sure. Just tell me when to get out of here." Even my hushed voice became a pile driver with every syllable. I squinted at the midday sun that charged therough the windows. Even more incentive for me to leave as soon as possible.

Right. What could I do to keep from staring at that cursed sun for too long? I could almost hear my neck creak as I craned it around, scanning the lobby with bleary eyes. The soda cooler had gaps in it. I could manage a few bottles. Completely facing away from the front and the cold might actually help.

I should've known better than to think positive.

" ... up, Jack! Who hard can it be to ask a couple questions?" With a voice dripping Brittish, a brunette stormed inside.

Such a wave of irritated, gummy-bear-filled taste filled my mouth that I almost gagged. My stomach rolled, threatening to coat the tile floor then and there. "Can I help you, ma'am?" Somehow, I managed to form a sentence that didn't come out all mumbled. Reluctantly, I turned towards the sun.

The woman's face had drained of color. "No way. Jess, you're ... alive? Is this a joke?"

"Um ... you might have me confused with someone else, ma'am. I don't think we've met before. Have we?"

_Please, please go away. Or buy a pizza. Or both._ I could feel the walls closing around me. A blur started at the edges of my vision. Blackout for certain if I didn't lay down soon.

For several agonizing seconds, she stared at me. As if I were a ghost or other creature of the past. I didn't have the heart to snap her out of it. Or the energy, for that matter.

"Gwen!" A man burst through the door, blue coat flaring about him. Wide blue eyes met mine before so many scents and tastes assaulted me that I couldn't think. "Jess."

Taking a step back, I tried to push through the chaos that had invated my private inner circle. Tried. A loosing battle. "If you're asking if ... if I remember you, the answer is no. You must be thining of another Jessica." There, that should solve the issue.

Wrong again.

The man's face grew so pale that I felt a small inkling of pity for him. So sickly, I thought he'd faint before I did. He took a few steps towards me, a flash of a smile dancing across his face. It never met his eyes. "Come on, Jess, very funny. You said you'd recognize me." Desperation became a sticky-sour lime in my mouth.

"N ... no, sorry."

"Not even the Blitz? End of the universe? Big blue police box?" With every word, his fear intensified, pressing in on me as he closed the distance even more. Only a couple of feet separated us. He reached for me. "It's Jack, Jess. Jack Harkness. It's _me_."

I could barely swallow past the assault on my senses. How could he know me? Why wouldn't he let me be? I couldn't see past the screeching pain that had taken over my mind. Swallowing even more bile, I backed away. "I'm sorry, sir, but I don't know who you are or where you're from or what you're talking about. Do you want to order something, or do I have to get my manager to ask you to leave?"

"Jess ... please." Before I could react, he reached out and grabbed my hand.

An explosion ravaged my senses and so many immages rocketed along my arm and into my thoughts. It overwhelmed everything. I cried out, yanking my hand away. My stomach refused to listen to me any longer.

The store went by in a blur as I ran towards the bathroom. Didn't even turn on the lights as i plunged towards toilet. Sweat flushed across my skin as I lost the entire contents of my stomach. Every inch of me ached. Shook like I'd come down with a fever. I couldn't think, couldn't breathe.

After a long time, I just lay on the floor, curling into a ball, my ability to think snatched away from me by the maelstrom of the world. Too many people. Too many feelings. Too much! Too much!

" ... sure you're a doctor? You don't look like one." Sophie's pitchy voice raked its nails across my mind what seemed like years later.

"It's my day off."

"Well, whatever the case, I'm glad you came when you did. She hasn't come out for almost an hour and none of us want to move her in case ... well ... in case we make it worse. I'm really worried that something might be wrong with her. I mean, seriously wrong."

Three sets of feet pounded the floor, drawing closer every second. Pulverising what little of my sanity remained.

I whimpered, wrapping my arms around my head. As if that would help.

"See? We don't know what to do. She said we should call her parents first if this happened, but they're not answering their phone. I hope you can help, sir."

_Just let me die, please._

Silence only graced me for a few seconds. "Doctor, what's wrong with her?" Breathed a new voice. Peach concern flooded the room. Thick and sticky. Tainted with sour minty curiosity. "Is she the reason the TARDIS went all ... sparky?"

"I'm afraid so. Rose, I need you to get everyone outside. Yourself included."

"What? Why?"

"She's an empath, Rose. A strong one who has no idea how to filter everything out. Your emotions are hurting her."

"But what about you?"

Too much peach-mint surrounded me. Far too much. I groaned, my stomach threatening to make another reappearance.

"I'll be fine. Now shoo. Ask about the family, something, just get out."

The silence that followed came as a shot of morphine. Peace and quiet. Enough to let me drown in the pain. A small bit of pressure eased as well, but not nearly enough to make a difference.

A large, warm hand rested on my shoulder.

I flinched away, another whimper escaping me. I couldn't take any more surges like that. Nothing happened. The man's hand carried no trace of him. As if he didn't exist. Almost against my better judgement, I felt myself relaxed into that touch.

"There we go," came a warm murmur. A far cry from the curt tone he'd used with his friend earlier. "Don't open your eyes. I need you to look at me. Can you do that?"

Swallowing down the fear of moving, I eased over onto my back. Nothing threatened to eject from my stomach again. I followed the sense of ... nothing ... and craned my head to the left. Toward what felt to be right.

"Very good. Wasn't so hard, now, was it?" Such warmth came from his tone that it felt as if I'd turned to face the sun. "Now, I'm really sorry about this. I truly am, but if we're going to have any chance of solving this, you're going to have to trust me. And I mean completely trust me." Those hands rested on either side of my head, supporting, yet comforting at the same time. "No no," he added as I peeled my mouth open to say something. "Don't talk. Just think that you trust me and I'll know."

_Think_ it? Wait, did I really trust a stranger when I didn't even know what he looked like? What did he gain from me trusting him?

_Well, what have you got to loose?_

I forced the queasiness in my stomach down like it had become one of those gopher games. Concentrated on thinking what I'd been about to say. [_All right, have at it. Nothing much more you can do to me, anyway. If you're implying you can read minds, that is. Which I seriously doubt._] I didn't expect such a ramble to pop out of the diseased mass that my brain had become. Didn't know I could focus enough to even think up one sentence.

A chuckle flowed over my skin like a balm from one of those sauna places. Just before I felt ... something ... change in my mind. It didn't have a definite name. Or an easy way to describe it. Like ... a footstep easing into my head. I shuddered; every part of me wanting that presence _out_.

_No. I trusted him._

Clenching my jaw, I shoved the urge to kick it out to the curb. Let him do whatever he planned on doing. Still didn't think he could do anything worthwhile.

Between one moment and the next, all the chaos around me simply vanished. Just gone. As if it never existed. I gasped, coming up for air. I'd been drowning among the sea of every one else.

"No no. Not yet," the strange man protested. "Still have some work to do, just not here. Keep your eyes closed a bit longer." A high-pitched, whirring noise filled the room, but didn't savage my mind.

"Take your time. I'm not going anywhere."

An even stranger, louder noise surrounded us. Like something alive wheezing for breath. Within seconds, the cold tile had morphed into some sort of warm metal digging into my back. How on earth could the floor change? A scowl found its way onto my brow. Now I _had_ to see what was happening.

Peeling my eyes open a fraction, I didn't see much of anything. Just a golden glow and a dark shape in front of me.

"Oi, what did I say about keeping your eyes closed?" The shape moved closer, hands taking my head in those hands again. "Is it just me or are you Amearicans more stubborn than most?"

"Only when they want to know what's going on," I retorted, feeling more like myself the longer the silence in my head continued. Only then did I realize that he had a rather thick accent. Just a day for Brits, then. Information to file away, adding to my list of things that didn't make sense. Or were just plain weird. "Seriously, what did you do to my head? _How_ did you do it? How did you even know what ..."

A finger placed on my lips silenced me as good as a rag in my mouth. "Shush. You'll have to shut it if you want me to finish."

"But finish what?"

"Oi!"

"Oh fine. I've got a thousand and one questions for you, though." With a reluctant sigh, I clenched my eyes shut. Sealing the unknown away yet again. Enough to send my curiosity to heights that set a fire under my skin. He hadn't done anything to misuse my trust yet.

Once again, more footsteps entered my mind, but I'd already resolved to let him in. A niggling sensation dangled in front of my senses like a worm on a hook. Curious, I tried to rach for it, as crazy as it felt. I'd barely interacted with it - brushed, or grasped, I didn't know how to describe it - when such a glow errupted in my mind that I flinched away from it. Okay, big no. Something I shouldn't touch.

"And ... there we go." Something clicked in my mind. Like a wall sliding into place. The hands dissapeared. "All set. You can look now."

Feeling more sane than I'd ever had in my whole life, I snapped my eyes open. Got confronted by a shaved head, brown eyes, and big ears. Leather jacket and pants, too, all black. "Well, Doctor, you certainly don't lack for a sense of fashion. Could be worse."

His eyebrow shot up and he jerked away. "What?"

"What?" Alarm thudded in my chest. How did I know to call him that? "Well ... I heard your friend call you that, so ... what, that's just something only she can call you? What do I call you? What did you do to my head?"

"Woah, hold on, there. One question at a time." The man - or the Doctor, since he hadn't objected to me calling him that - stood and backed away, but didn't offer a hand. A void still existed around him. Though if that was on purpose or a result of what he did to me, I couldn't be sure. "All I did was put up some barriers you should've had in the first place. They'll last for a few years, but they'll degrade. By then you should be able to get the hang of keeping your own up."

My response never made it out of my mouth. As I rolled to my feet, the enormity of the new space we were in hit me. At least six times the size of the bathroom. Y-shaped collums formed a ring around a platform with a central console that had a clear colum in the center. Round lights covered the walls. A thrumming filled the air. Like a heartbeat.

"Okay ..." Now my head hurt for entirely different reasons. "So you've sealed up my mind like Fort Knox. Right. I'm not going to ask how you can do that since I feel that it'll be really complicated. Or you just won't tell me. Either one." Running my hand through the rats nest that had once been my hair, I gaped at the enormity of the place. "So ... where are we?"

The Doctor made a face. Part wince, part annoyance, though I had to guess at that. "Long story. You're not sticking around long enough to find out. Now, where's home for you?"

"But how ..."

Though he'd started running around the console of gadgets like a chicken with its head cut off, the Doctor had enough time to pause and glare at me. "You're right; too complicated and no, I'm not going to tell you. Your parents can do that _after_ I've had a word with them. Why they let you go so long without barriers is completely beyond me."

"My ..." He thought my parents should've taught me? "But ... my parents are just normal. They're not my birth parents, anyway, so ... whatever's wrong with me didn't come from them."

"What?" Confusion sent the Doctor's face into a mass of frowns and scrunches. He shot upright like I'd given him a burst of adrenaline. "Are you sure?"

I shrugged, a faint blush starting to burn my cheeks in patches. "Pretty sure. But how can I be like this? There's no such thing as empaths, right?"

"Not for a couple thousand years anyway," the Doctor muttered, returning to his console. "Home, now."

I frowned. Though I could no longer sense what he felt, the Doctor's evasiveness gave away that he knew a lot more than he admitted. How else would he know how to enter my mind like that? "Look, Doctor, I don't know why you helped me or how you did what you did, but I need to know: will ... will that ever happen again? The migraine?" The memory of it caused my hands to clench and open.

Never, _never_ did I want to go through that in my lifetime.

Only then did the Doctor stop long enough to come closer to me. Such an intense look entered his eyes, that I found myself trying to catch my breath. Add to the fact that he stood head and shoulders taller than me, he made a very imposing figure. Yet he didn't scare me. "No. Not if you keep those barriers up. So, again, since you seem a bit thick, where's home?"

"Thick?" Without thinking, following the first instinct that came to mind, I raised my hand and gave the Doctor my best smack on the back of his head.

"Ow! What was that for?"

"Being rude." I crossed my arms and glared at him. "Wherever we are now, I think it would be best if you just dropped me off behind work." Talking about dropping me off like encountering someone who could transport me places happened every day. _Freak out later. Freak out over the fact he might be an alien later._ "I still have a shift to finish and if I just show up at home, then that'll raise more problems than solve them. I don't think you want problems, do you?"

The Doctor stared at me, expression dead-pan. I stared right back, determined not to let him win."Oh fine, have it your way." He stalked back to the console, flicking switches and odd-knobs. The whole room jerked back and forth. I had to grip a railing to keep from falling over, but the Doctor kept his balance. As soon as a bone-jarring yank rocked the place, he gestured towards the doors. "There, almost exactly where we left. Happy now?"

I grinned at him. "Very. Thank you. At least the alien's got manners."

"Who said I was an alien?"

Raising my eyebrow, I jst stared at him.

"Right. Off you go. Try not to get into any trouble. Won't be seeing me again."

"If you keep that attitude, then I'm happy to leave you." Though I kept the sharpness in my words as I headed to the doors, I felt a grin trying to wiggle its way onto my face. I'd never bantered like that with a complete stranger, let alone with someone who could enter my mind and could possibly be an alien. Resting my hand on the door, though, I turned with a serious expression. "Seriously though, Mr. Doctor. Thank you. I don't know if I could've gone on longer if you hadn't shown up. I owe you a thousand times over."

I stepped out into the sunshine, sighing in its warmth. I didn't have to worry about it hurting anymore.

"Doctor! Wait up!" I had just enough time to see a flash of a pink sweater and blonde hair fly by before the doors creaked shut again.

The urge to see what his ship looked like became overwhelming. I spun on my heel as the wheezing sound returned ... and could've sworn that my jaw hit the floor. A small, blue box faded in and out until it finally dwindled away. A blue box! Just like ...

"You need to be quite the person to keep up with him."

Yelping, I whirled around, coming face-to-face with the man named Jack. "Jeez, warn someone when you're standing behind them next time," I grouched, eyeing him warily. I could still remember the storm that touching him had caused. "What do you want?"

Such a far-away glaze had entered his eyes, I didn't know if he heard me. "Gotta be fast and good good at running. Always running." Blinking, he seemed to refocus on me. A smile that spoke of fond memories and incredible sadness transformed him into someone a hundred years older than he appeared. "Of all the places to end up, I never thought I'd see you at the beginning. And I mean the very beginning."

"I said I don't know you."

"I know, I know." Jack winced, running a hand through his hair. "That's my fault, I'm sorry. Tried out a new function on this thing and I guess ... I guess I was thinking about you a little too much. Messed up our jump." He gestured to a device strapped on his wrist.

Goosebumps rippled up and down my arms. I narrowed my eyes. "Okay ... so the Doctor's got a spaceship ... thing. You say you know me already even though I know for a fact I've never seen you before in my life. Are you an alien too?" Two aliens in one day. Almost too much for me to handle. Major mind-blow the instant I get home.

That drew a laugh from him. "No way. One-hundred percent human, I promise." He took a couple steps closer, but stopped when I took a half-step backwards. "I'm sorry, Jess. About the brainstorm. I should've seen the signs. Teach me for going all sentimental, huh?"

Thankfully, I couldn't feel what had to have been a torrent of emotion rolling from him. Even so, I could almost feel his regret tingling along my skin. What I saw in his eyes ate at my concience. I couldn't stay mad at a guy who seemed about ready to jump off the cliff. I just ... couldn't. With a heavy sigh, I rested a hand on his arm. Briefly. Not long enough to seem over-familiar.

"Hey, it was a mistake. Can't blame you for doing that based off something I haven't done yet. If I'm making any sense."

My hand had the same effect as if I'd electrocuted him. Jack's head snapped up and I could hear him catch his breath. A flash of deep emotion crossed his eyes, but it vanished before I could think of a name. "You are, actually. So the Doc gave you some barriers. That helps more than you think. Now I know when you are." This time, he took the initiative and stepped back.

"You have no idea how creepy this is." I smiled. Act natural. He hadn't given me the creeps yet. Well, beyond the normal, expected ones. "So, if I'm getting the lingo right, we know each other sometime in the future, but I wasn't supposed to be meeting you now?"

"Close. I can't tell you much without having you show up and punch me, but ... yeah. This was a mistake. Though I wouldn't put it past you to just not tell me about this." A quirky smile pulled his face out of the frown it seemed to have sunk into.

I felt a smile of my own ease to the surface. "Sounds like something I'd do."

"Exactly. Long story cut incredibly short, I'm a time traveler. Well ... part time. Anyway, we don't meet in the right order sometimes, so if we see each other again, I might not be the same me. It's best to check and see where we are before doing anything."

"Wait, what makes you think we'll see each other again?"

Jack's grin could've lit up the entire city. "Now _that's_ telling. Spoilers, as a friend might say." A hand reached up before he could stop it. "Uh, may I? You can punch me if it makes you feel better."

My throat filled with all sorts of emotions, all of them my own. How could I deny a look that desperate? Why did I feel so comfortable around a complete stranger? Did he say he traveled in time? That we knew each other in the future? So the Doctor might be an alien, Jack time-traveled, I learned that I was an empath. Talk about one mess of a day.

Absently, I nodded. There didn't seem much more he could do that would surprise me.

Jack's finger's threaded themselves in my thick hair and tugged. Gently, a thousand and one emotions screaming on his face. The whistful smirk that appeared carried so many memories. Perhaps he'd done the gesture before. Perhaps he really did know me.

After several seconds, I grew uncomfortable enough.

Jack cleared his throat, dropping his hand. "Ah, thank you. I ... ow!" He yelped as my palm smacked the side of his face. Shock widened his eyes and made him slack-jawed as he held a hand to the spot. "What was that for?"

My first response finally made it out of my mouth. "I don't know. Seemed like the right thing to do. Your face is too pretty anyway."

Jack's chuckle followed me all the way inside.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: SEE CHAPTER ONE FOR EXPLANATION BEFORE READING!**

**So, yes, this is another version, but I ask you read the note on the first chapter before freaking out. Sorry about that. :(**

I Run Into Jack

"Face it, Jessie, you're obsessed."

Squinting in the glaring headlights, I did all that I could to keep my simmering temper in check. "I'm _not_ obsessed, Sophie. We never got that Doctor's name or Rose's last name. Don't forget that Jack Harkness guy ..."

"Who, according to all records that an average Jane can read, doesn't exist!" Sophie's huff of annoyance puffed in my ear, stupid Bluetooth. "How long has it been? Four moths? Five?"

"Nine."

"_Nine_ months! If you were going to find them, you would have by now, and I'm not saying you haven't tried. You're like a blodhound, but still ... I think they're gone."

I ground my teeth, glancing over at the stack of folders on the seat next to me. The dashboard lights glimmered off of two paper-clipped photographs: Jack and the Doctor. I'd had to spend weeks digging up information just to get those grainy immages. I couldn't give them up. Not even the few pages of information on each of them I'd managed to print out. Curiosity ate at me from every direction. I had to know more about them. Solve the mysteries surrounding them.

"Jessie?"

Right, my call still connected. "Soph, Jack said I'd meet him again. Not how or when or where. The Doctor ... he helped me more than any other doctor and shrink I've been to. I owe him a proper thank you, don't you think?"

"Well ... yeah, but don't you think this is a little ... stalker-ish?"

I'd barely opened my mouth to reply when the air just down the road twisted, rippling like water. I stared, dumbfounded. I had to be seeing things. No way did air just ...

The air flashed so bright, I couldn't see a thing. With a cry, I slammed on the brakes. Tires squealed, I could feel the car fishtailing. A solid thump hit the car like I'd run into something. The windshield cracked.

I couldn't move for several moments, maybe a minute, even after the car spun to a stop. My heart thudded so hard in my chest, I could've sworn that it would burst at any moment. My knuckles turned white around the steering wheel, but I couldn't feel the ache.

Did I just hit something?

The belated realization spurred me into action. Free from the paralysis of shock. Right, go out and see what happened. Best thing to do right now. Get out of the car.

Cold, late night air smacked my face as I stepped out. Carefully, in case more glass had broken than I thought. With white spots still flashing in my eyes, I trudged to the front of the car.

"No, no no no no no!" M yvoice rose higher as horror dug itself deeper into my gut. A body lay on the road. A body. A human body. I'd never even hit an animal and I'd just run someone over? My legs carried me the few feet before I'd realized it. "Oh, please, please don't be dead!" I gently rolled the body over, and the blood roared in my ears until I felt like I'd faint.

Jack.

Of all the things, of all the _people_ that I could've run over, I had to run over Jack. I shook as I sank onto the road. Tears stung my eyes. All he'd ever done was be kind to me - and maybe creep me out a bit - but nothing that deserved this. "I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry."

As if I hadn't already had a near-heart attack, the previously dead Jack Harkness gasped for air, surging upright.

I couldn't help it, I shrieked, backing away from ... whatever I saw in front of me. Not possible! The dead couldn't come back to life! Well, only one guy I knew for sure could, but not normal people!

"Oh, ow. Hit by a car, that's a first." Jack rolled his shoulders, practically jumping to his feet. "Not to self: never do that again." Only after a few seconds did he notice me. "Jess! Now why am I not surprised? Of course you'd be the one to kill me ... again."

I scrambled to my feet, jabbing my finger at him. "You! Just ... just stay away from me until you explain yourself, Mr. Harkness! How can you just ... walk away from taking a hit like that? Who ... what are you?"

Jack frowned, looking at me up and down. Realization dawned as a thunderclap. "Oh. Oh, I'm so sorry, Jess. You haven't seen me come back, have you?"

Digging my fingers into my scalp, I tried to bring my head back together. Wrap it around what I'd seen. "No. No I haven't! I've only met you _once_! And you were creepy enough as it was. Yes, you're a time-traveler, but this?" I shook my head, turning away to lean heavily against the car.

The seconds crept on. Hesitant footsteps crunched on the road behind me. "Look, I'm sorry. I really am. Sometimes my mouth runs faster than my brain ... sometimes. Ah ..." A shadow moved on the hood of the car moments before Jack's hand rested awkwardly on my shoulder. Not in a wierd I-just-met-you way, but with the gentleness of a close friend. "I really suck at saying hi, huh?"

A giggle managed to worm its way free, carring a hint of hysteria that I quickly put a lid on. "Oh, you have no idea." Inhaling slowly, I straightened and turned to face Jack, who for once looked like a kid who had his hand caught in the cookie jar. For a moment, I thought of yelling at him some more, but I just couldn't. Something about Jack managed to keep me from being mad at him for too long. Perhaps it came from his boyish good looks or the stark-naked guilt that came bleeding from every pore in his body.

Or perhaps I'd become too much of a softie.

"Fine," I eventually managed with a sigh, though I crossed my arms. A last-minute self-defence thingy. "I'm calling a tow-truck."

"What?" If I'd been in a better mood, the look on Jack's face would've been hilarious. "No questions? Yelling? Smacking me on the head?"

I shook my head, digging out my cell phone from my pocket; the bluetooth had flown from my ear and had lost itself in the car. Somewhere. "Nope."

"Not even a little?"

I raised my eyebrow at him then turned my back. Okay, a bit of me still held onto the annoyance and anger at having to face something completely unexpected from a guy who knew everything about me yet again. The brief conversation with the tow truck agency didn't help either and I ended up slamming my phone against the car roof.

Jack had resorted to leaning against the other side. "Problems?"

"No need to sound so smug," I grouched. "They can't get here for two more hours."

"Good, that gives me time to explain everything."

"Mr. Harkness, I told you ..."

Jack's face grew serious, the boyish nature I'd come to expect from him completely vanishing. "Jess, stop. If it's true that you've only seen me once, then it's a sure bet that you'll be seeing me again. You of all people deserve an explanation."

I chewed my lip, fixing Jack with the most mature stare I could muster. Inside, I wrestled with the overwhelming need to know how he'd come back to life and the part of me that absolutely didn't want to. Opening the barriers I'd been using just the tiniest crack, I tried to get a feel for why he needed me to know. While I didn't get a void from him like with the Doctor, I got very little. Another person who knew how to keep me from going crazy.

With a very loud sigh, I pointedly sat down on the hood. "Oh, very well, but no hints at what I haven't done yet! I hope you have a very tood filter between that brain and your mouth."

With a chuckle, Jack sat next to me. "Trust me. I don't want future you to come and punch me for messing up your own timeline. This is bad enough, though, I guess you already knew this would happen." He winced as I lifted a warning hand. "No no, don't worry. Not spoiler-ish at all, I promise."

Two and a half hours later, my head felt ready to explode. All the things Jack had said were inconsequential to the ammount of things I felt hadn't been said. There'd been pauses where I could tell he'd been working around information I couldn't know, which both irked me and made me grateful every time.

Not nearly as grateful as I felt when Jack stormed to the late tow truck and started giving him the berating of the century. I groaned, rubbing my temples as I began gathering up my things from inside the car. So much stuff to fit in at once!

So Jack came from the 51st century. Not that hard to believe with his wrist thing.

He couldn't age or die. Slightly harder to believe, but since I'd practically murdered him already, I could put some stock in that claim.

All that and more clamored for attention that I couldn't give at that moment. Shaking my head as if to shed it all off, I stood aside as my poor car finally got hitched. Paper and pen awaited me at home. I just knew I wouldn't get any sleep until I'd written it all down. More notes to add to Jack's "file" while the Doctor's remained annoyingly thin. Self-concious of said folders in my arms, I held them close to my chest when Jack finally came over.

"There." He mock shuddered. "I absolutely hate truck-drivers."

"And I bet they hate you too," I grinned. "I'm surprised you haven't been sued or gotten a bloody nose yet."

Jack's grin lit the area around us. "Nah. That I leave to you." He glanced over to where the driver had begun gesturing at us impatiently. "Hey, can I see your phone for a second?"

I lifted an eyebrow, or tried to, even as I held it out. "Why do I get the feeling that I should look for trouble when you sound like that?"

"It's just my number, promise," Jack insited, thumbs flying over the keys. A triumphant smirk flashed over his face as he handed it back. "There. The guys owe me a round of drinks when I get back."

"What?" I glanced at the phone. A practical list of phone numbers.

Jack shrugged, guiding me toward the truck with a hand on my arm. "They said I'd have to force you to give up your phone to give you my number. I said all I had to do was ask."

Great, not only did he knew me far better than I knew him, he made bets with his friends about me. I made a face and stuck the phone back in my pocket. The easy banter between the two of us felt completly natural. A person who hadn't seen the Doctor or had the ability to read people's emotions like I did would've freaked out long ago.

I still might. Later.

Once up in the cab, I glanced down at Jack once again, who stood a little awkwardly on the side of the road. "You'll be okay? I mean, won't the ... the thingy mess you up again?" Guilt at leaving him like that began eating away at both my annoyance and near-freak-out.

Jack grinned a little lop-sidedly. "Nah, I'm beginning to think that the little accident was your fault to begin with. I'm sure it'll work that out just fine." He stepped back and gave a little wave before sticking his hands deep in his pockets. "Just don't get into too much trouble, okay?"

"Oh stop it with your half-hints and nonsense!" I stuck my tongue out and closed the door firmly, though I couldn't keep a grin from working its way onto my face as the truck luched and groaned back onto the road. Setting the files on my lap, I glanced at the two pictures and froze.

Pasted with a bright neon-pink sticky note onto the Doctor's picture were words I didn't remember putting there.

TRUST THE DOCTOR. HE'LL TRY TO PUSH YOU AWAY, BUT YOU MUST STAY WITH HIM. HE NEEDS YOU MORE THAN HE KNOWS. TRUST HIM. LOVE HIM.

The handwriting was my own.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Thank you to all who've read the revamp and have reviewed! I desperately love your feedback as it keeps me going! Please leave me any questions if you don't understand something and I'll answer as much as I can without spoilers. **

**Also, the note about Big Ben and the name of the tower it's in was noted to me by someone I watch on YouTube who lives there and wanted to mention that to all us non-British. If any of you know the proper name for that tower, let me know! :D **

Aliens of London

Part 1

"... and here's our lovely Miss America! Hiding behind a coffee as alway when there's work to be done!"

Groaning, I buried my face into my arm. I could feel the camera on me like a physical presence. "Good grief, Artie, would you turn that off already? I'm not photogenic in any shape or form and it's too early for your movie ... thing." I couldn't tell him how much my head hurt. How much I wanted to be by myself instead of working on a school project.

Artie just laughed and probably shoved the camera closer to my face. "Aww she's shy. Come on, Jessie. Just one smile for the audience! Please?"

"No! Get that thing out of my face!" I finally looked up and glared at him. "Can we just work on the report and not mugging for more views?"

Artie scowled, red bangs falling in front of his sharp green eyes, the same shade eyes as mine. He did lower the camera, though. "What's up with you today, Jessie? Bit more of a grouch than usual. You know you can tell me anything."

I couldn't stay truly mad at him. Not with that puppy-dog look on his face. I still couldn't tell him. Even he wouldn't believe me. "Sorry, it's just personal stuff." I rubbed my forehead and gathered my still full coffee. "Hey, I'm not feeling so good. I think I'm just gonna go home and have a date with my - what do you Londoners call it - my teley. We've got the whole ove next week to finish this, right?"

"All right. But don't think I'm not going to get you smiling on camera one of these days." A sly wink radiated too much attempted flirtation.

"In your dreams, lover boy," I tossed at him as I scooted my way out of the cafe before he could make good on his threat.

The crisp air did my head some good. By the time I reached the stairs to my apartment -or flat, if I wanted to sound more British - the emotional vice around my mind had receded into a dull ache. Like a headache that I could ignore if I wished. My own barriers were nothing compared to the ones the Doctor had given me so long ago, but at least they were better than nothing.

A gust of wind caught my hair, tugging it free of the headband and making me glad I'd cut it in the first place. With the breeze came a sound that froze my feet to the pavement. My heart leapt in my chest, trying to nest itself in my mouth.

That wheezing. The Doctor's box ... ship ... thing.

Gripping my coffee until I dented the cup, I spun on my heels as the noise grew louder. No freaking way. I'd searched for him for so long and he just appears in earshot? In no universe coudl I be so lucky.

Proven wrong for the hundredth time, I could only stare as that blue police box materialized in the alley behind the complex I lived in. I could hardly breathe, unwilling to make the box dissapear just by breathing wrong. Please, please, please be the Doctor.

After a few seconds, the doors creaked open and a very blond head bounced out. I frowned, momentarily confused until the doctor's head stuck out right behind the girl. So that had to be Rose, the girl I'd heard, but not seen completely. Well, I couldn't blame the Doctor for taking her along. She certainly fit the "pretty" bill.

"How long have I been gone?" Okay, that confirmed it. I hoped she had some brains to counter that voice.

The Doctor fairly beamed smugness as he leaned against the box. He still had those big ears and leather outfit. Did he ever change? "About twelve hours."

"Oh. Right. I won't be long. I just want to see my mum."

"What're you going to tell her?"

"I don't know. I've been to the year five billion and only been gone, what, twelve hours? No, I'll just tell her I spent the night at Shareen's. See you later. Oh," Rose added with a wave of her finger and no small ammount of fondness. "Don't you disappear."

Would the Doctor really vanish on someone like that? I know he'd left me behind, but I hadn't exactly earned a place in his little club.

In the silence after Rose left, I debated whether or not to say hello. Would that be rude, or just what he expected? After a few seconds, I gave in, stepping out of the stairwell. "So, you're not a figment of my immagination after all, Doctor. Good thing to know I'm not going mad." I kicked a pebble, the awkwardness of the whole situation making me as shy as ever.

The Doctor's face scrunched into a frown. "Jessica Gale? What are you doing here?"

"Well, I live here, is that all right with you?" I couldn't hold back a smirk and couldn't take the tone in his voice seriously. "I was hoping I'd see you again."

"But, what ... what are you doing here? In London?"

"Going to school, why else?" Well, that came only partialy true. I didn't want him to get creeped out if he knew I'd been looking for him. Not that I thought he got creeped out by much, but better be safe than sorry.

"But why here? Why, litterally here?" The Doctor strode closer until he loomed over me, squinting at me as if he could study me under a microscope. "This can't be a coincidence. Nothing happens to me by coincidence."

I snorted. "Says the guy who travels in time," I retort before I could help myself.

"What?" The Doctor jerked back from me like I'd stung him. "Who says I travel in time? Who've you been talking to?"

Oops. I glared at him, a pattern of blotches covering my face. My blushes were never pretty. "No one, thank you very much. I'm not as dumb as you think I am. Just how hard is it to find a big blue box anyway? Look hard enough through history and you keep showing up, so I just guessed." I poked his chest for emphasis.

"What?" A strong wave of tension and dislike rolled off of him. He didn't like being touched. That much I could tell without needing to feel his emotions like that. "Are you sure you're human? Your empathic ability is too far advanced for humans. At least, not for a few thousand years. Who were your parents? Were they human or just alien life forms taking on human form?" Half talking to himself, he pulled out a device a few inches long and waved it at me, the end glowing blue and producing that whirring noise I'd heard so long ago. "Who knows? You could be an alien, but just cant remember ... Ow! Again, what was that for?"

"Being rude and an idiot," I retorted, hiding the sting the mention of my parents caused. My absent biologicals had become something I didn't think about, causing too much guilt and other assorted issues. "What is that thing, anyway?"

The Doctor still rubbed the back of his head, a confounded expression twisting his face. "Sonic screwdriver," he muttered, offering no further explanation than that.

Rolling my eyes, I took a step back, though I couldn't fight too much of my grin. "Right. So, what brings you to this side of the woods? Bringing Rose home for a family visit or showing off or ... Are you even listening to me?" I yelped as the Doctor's head turned towards a poster nearby.

As he almost ran over to the pole and flattened the paper, I almost banged my head against the wall. How could I have not made the connection before now?

_Missing: Rose Tyler. Can you help?_

"Doctor, you suck at timing," I sighed as said man ran off. For a moment, I hesitated. Should I follow him? I didn't know the Tylers at all. Didn't even know they were in the same apartment building. Wouldn't it be rude to just show up out of the blue? Even though I believed the Doctor did that on a regular basis.

No. No way was I going to let the Doctor out of my sight now that I'd found him. I hadn't even told him how long I'd been searching. Seemed too pathetic to even admit it to myself. Reshouldering my bag, I took off after him. No way would I let him out of my sight now.

"I can't tell her," Rose mused as we lounged on the roof. Well, they lounged, I lurked a distance away. "I can't even begin. She's never going to forgive me. And I missed a year. Was it good?"

I shrugged as the Doctor made a noncommital sound. With the chaos of Rose's return, I'd gone largely unnoticed. That suited me just fine. All of that emotion had pushed my barriers to their limits. I'd even thought that the Doctor or even Rose would've asked me to leave by then.

Rose laughed a bit. "You two are so useless."

"Well, if it's this much trouble, are you going to stay here now?" The Doctor's quick grin didn't hide the loneliness that coalesced around him.

Then again, the only one to probably notice at all, given his private nature, would be someone who had no choice but to feel emotions.

"I don't know ..."

"You should go," I offered before I could fully think of the sentence. I cautiously sat on the same ledge they were using. Still some feet away, but I felt awkward enough standing. "Real life's extremely dull, trust me."

"Maybe," Rose murmured, a distant look in her eyes. It made me wonder what she'd seen with the Doctor already. "I couldn't do that to her again, though."

"Well she's not coming with us." So quick was the Doctor's response that it made me grin. Didn't have to be an empath to read the emotion in that.

_What about me?_

The betraying thought in my mind brought a slight tinge to my cheeks. I might not be human like he kept accusing me, so why did I have to stay on Earth? Did I even belong on Earth? Why did I have the mind I had and why wouldn't he give me the answers?

Rose giggled a little. "Not a chance."

The Doctor shuddered, his shoulders tensing so much, they could've cut paper with how sharp his profile had become. "I don't do families."

He didn't ... My list of questions and priorities shifted to make that fact almost number one. Sure, I knew humans didn't want or like families at some point or another, but the way the Doctor reacted surprised me. Sure, he could be a bit cross and rude, but it didn't seem to be that big of a leap to see him with ...

_Letting your mind wandering again._

"She slapped you!" Rose still laughed, pointing a finger at the Doctor.

"Nine hundred years of time and space, and I've never been slapped by someone's mother," the Doctor grumbled, hunching his shoulders.

"Well, you did deserve it. I mean, seriously, a year off? Doesn't your ship have a clock or something?" I sniggered, a grin causing my cheeks to ache.

_Nine hundred years._

The thought wiggled in the back of my mind, causing me to squint and tilt my head at him. It drew the Doctor's attention my way. I shrugged at the quirk of his lips. Hey, if he could fly around in time and space, why couldn't he be centuries old?

Laughter still had Rose in it's grip. "The look on your face," she sniggered, probably the immage setting her off again.

"It hurt!" The Doctor protested, rubbing the side of the face so affected. Even I had to giggle a little at that. "Oi, you're one to talk. What is it with you and the back of my head?"

I pinched my lips together in an effort to keep from laughing outright for just a little bit longer. "Why, it's just so shiny, Doctor. Plus you have the habit of being a complete idiot. That deserves a bit of a smack right there."

"Wait, what are you talking about?" Rose yelped, instantly perking up and leaning closer.

"Nothing ..."

"I've smacked him before," I burst in before the Doctor could completely find an excuse. "Twice."

This time the both of us dissolved into giggles, causing the doctor to hunch between us like an abused puppy. "You're so gay," Rose managed to blurt out, which was more than I could manage. It only took a few more seconds for her laughter to die out, however. "When you say nine hundred years ..."

"...that's my age."

"You're nine hundred years old."

"Yep."

In the silence, I could see the wheels spinning in Rose's head. Mostly, however, I could feel the Doctor's over-all discomfort with the situation. Regret at laughing at his expense managed to sour my mood enough. I stuffed my hands into my armpits agianst a chilly gust of wind with a wince. Poor guy.

A scuff on the makeshift bench drew my attention up again. Somehow, without Rose paying attention to it, the Doctor had moved a little closer to me. Not in a wierd way to show any kind of preference, but it did make me feel more included. Less of an outsider. I flashed him a quick smile, which he seemed to glance at that pointedly looked away. Still touchy, then.

"My mum was right. That is one h*** of an age gap." Rose sighed and moved to the edge of the roof, shaking her head. "Every conversation with you just goes mental. There's no one else I can talk to. Well ... besides Jessie, of course."

"Thanks," I replied with a thick American drawl. "You got lucky on that one. Or rather, I did. If I hadn't met you two, I'd still be out of the loop."

"You're not even in the loop to begin with," muttered the Doctor. "Why are you still here, anyway?"

"Keeping an eye on you."

"I mean, all that stuff up there, the size of it, and we can't say a word. Aliens and spaceships and things, and we're the only people on planet Earth who know they exist." Rose continued, heedless to the brief exchange.

My mind instantly went to Jack and his friends. Sure, they didn't look like aliens or even people who would know aliens, but if Jack and his friends had really used a time-traveling device, then the option didn't seem so far-fetched. I opened my mouth to correct her, but changed my mind. "Probably best. Have you seen how paranoid the military is? If they got their hands on you, Doctor, they'd try to use you to ... I don't know ... help them kill other aliens?"

"They've already tried that." Blinking, the Doctor shook his head and shrugged. "Still, you never know. Humans surprise me all the time. Why else do you think I hang around? Give them the benefit of the doubt."

I snorted. "Really? From what I've seen, you act like we're smart pets or something. Well, annoying ones in my case." I kept any sort of insult out of my tone. I didn't really take offense to our little "exchange" when we first met. We'd both been idiots.

"We've only met twice," came the Doctor's answer, as if that explained everything.

"Oh come on, the human race isn't all that bad. What's gotten you so cynical?" Rose scowled at me. I'd only properly known her for a couple hours, but with my ability to sense her emotions, I already knew she was ever the optimist, if a bit thick at times. Maybe a little too sweet as well, but I set that thought aside for another time.

My mouth had barely open to answer her with some sort of comment when a foghorn blared overhead. A hand grabbed my arm and pulled me down with a yelp. Wind rushed by overhead, tossing my hair into my face. Craning my head up, I could've sworn my eyes bulged out of my head as a bonefide spaceship cruised by, smoke trailing behind it.

A spaceship. Over London. Where everyone could see it!

As the ship crashed through Big Ben - well, not Big Ben, but the tower, Mary or something - and into the Themes, I became distracted by a childish giddiness blooming beside me. My eyes flicked over to the grinning face of the Doctor. It transformed him from a gloomy man in dark leather to something like a big kid at Christmas.

I couldn't help but grin at him with a warm feeling growing in my chest.

The Doctor's head turned my way. Perhaps he saw me look at him, or grin. Our eyes met, and I forgot to breathe for a moment. His hand became a gentle warmth on my arm I never wanted gone.

"Oh that's just not fair." Rose bemoaned as sirens began ringing from the city below.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Thank you to all the people who followed and faved recently! I still beg you for reviews, since those keep me writing and inspired. :) Even if it's a bad review, it'll help me get better! **

**Also, I have several epsiodes planned in certain orders (obviously) but if there's any that you want me to do or special bad guys to put in, let me know! :D I'll tell you if your eps are already on my list or not. Still, I'd love some ideas. **

**In any case, let me know if you have any more questions. And each episode I do will take up two or three chapters so it won't be so long to read. . Thanks!**

**P.S. Sorry it's taken a while to get this up. A huge wildfire sprouted not far from my house (80k acres) and things have been getting crazy. Sorry about the delay!**

Aliens of London

Part 2

As if London on a normal day didn't push my mental barriers to the limits, the excitement of the alien ship sent it into over drive. It felt like I'd been trapped in a room that was slowly filling with water without a way to escape. It grew even worse as people began filing into the Tylers' appartment. The Grand Central Station of the apartment building.

I ended up curled on the couch at one end with the Doctor perched on the edge of the seat on the other. He'd been unable to get to the crash site on foot, so he'd resorted to the old-fashioned human way: TV. Although he flipped through channels at such a pace that I wondered if he understood any of it. For me, I became just a tad more stable just by focusing on him, as creepy as that sounded. He still remained a void among the chaos around me. A sort of anchor to my sanity.

I just prayed that nobody touched me. If I had another brain storm like I'd had with Jack so long ago, I knew that would do me in. My mind's eye filled with the image of the prescription I kept in my pocket. Taunting me. Daring me to go ahead and take it. I couldn't. Not with the Doctor nearby. I became an emotional zombie when the drugs took effect and I knew he'd notice.

But try as I might to resist the temptation, the urge to swallow one grew with each passing minute. Every new spike of emotion caused another chip in my barriers to form. Ready to crack and fracture like a windshield at any moment.

Eventually I gave up and excused myself, slipping outside as quickly as I could without drawing too much attention. The cool air slapped my face as I leaned heavily against the railing. It eased the ache somewhat, but I could feel the cracks in my barriers slowly connecting, widening. Almost beyond my ability to control. Biting my lip, I drew the accusing orange bottle out of my pocket and glared at the little white pills crammed inside. Were they addicting? I'd begun thinking that they were, since I had to renew my prescription every two weeks instead of the one month like the doctor suggested.

"Why, why, why can't I do this right?" I sighed, allowing myself to whine for a little bit. No one could hear me anyway. "Keep up my barriers. Should be simple. Just keep them up and I won't have everyone else's bloody emotions out of my bloody ..." I stopped myself and almost did a face-palm. Artie was really rubbing off on me. Or the city was. "Or I just can't think straight."

Another spark of excitement somewhere in the complex splintered my barriers even more, causing me to flinch. The cap was off the bottle before I realized what I was doing. I could hardly tell which emotions were mine and which were everyone else's. Just one pill and I'd have some relief. Just ... one ...

A hand snatched the bottle out of mine before I could even blink. "What do you think you're doing, Jessica Gale?" The Doctor. Of course. The only one who could sneak up on me at that moment. "What are these? What are they for?"

His dissapointment hurt far more than anything else.

"I'm ... they ..." I floundered. How did I explain without whining or looking like a lost cause? I buried my face in my hands. "I ... I tried, Doctor. I tried following your suggestion about keeping my barriers up. They worked in Small Town, USA, but ... once I transfered school to London ..." I shuddered, the memory of the move almost driving me under.

The Doctor made a noise. I didn't care to turn my head and decipher it. "Jessica, these things won't help you control yourself."

"Tell me something I don't know."

"How long have you been taking these?" When I didn't reply, the Doctor took my shoulder and spun me around, forcing me to face him. "How long?"

"Two and a half years!" I snapped. Not because I wanted to. It took an effort to keep track of which thoughts were completely mine. I ran a hand through my hair, which had become a bit frazzled. "It's been almost four years since you helped me, Doctor. Believe me, I tried to keep myself in one piece when I moved here. I really did, but ..."

Several things darkened the Doctor's face and lit up his eyes. So many confusing things I didn't have the capacity to try and name. "I don't get it. It should've worked. Should've been a walk in the park. I ..." A hand reached up to my face, but he paused, bringing himself up short. "May I?"

He wanted to go inside my head again. Not that I could keep him out even if I wanted to. Pinching the bridge of my nose, I nodded mutely. Anything that could make it stop.

"I'll be as gentle as I can, I promise."

The sentence had been said so quietly, I couldn't be sure if I'd actually heard it. His fingers pressed against my head. Just the feel of his mind stepping into my own was enough to shatter what little control I had left. I gasped, weaving on my feet as the emotions of an entire city poured into me. The Doctor swore and the sensation that followed was something akin to someone putting a dam back in place. Piece by piece, layer by layer. Until once again, it was only my mind and his.

I sighed in relief, sagging in his grip. "Thank you," I breathed. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have let it get to me. I'm sorry, I just ... What do I do?'

The Doctor still rooted around in my head. I let him. As far as I knew, I didn't know anything he shouldn't. "Tell me why you're such a strong empath, for starters. You're not supposed to have this skill for thousands of years. Humans aren't, anyway. Why aren't your own barriers enough? Why ..."

"And where do you think you're going?"

Rose's voice shot us apart so quickly, I was left standing there with my eyes closed for several seconds. Then fear spurred me to glance at the Doctor. Would he tell Rose about me? Had he even explained why they'd found me in the first place? I didn't want her to know. So many people thought I was crazy as is, one more wouldn't hurt.

A minute shake of the Doctor's head was all the reassurance he could give me before plastering on a smile. One of the dorky ones that should've screamed false. "Nowhere. It's just a bit human in there for me. History just happened and they're talking about where you can buy dodgy top-up cards for half price. I'm off on a wander, that's all."

A half-truth. Coming from him with such ease. Did he ever tell the full truth?

"Right. There's a spaceship on the Thames and you're just wandering. Is he really 'just wandering', Jess?"

Well, at least Rose wasn't as clueless as she sounded.

My eyes met the Doctor's for a few seconds. Any guilt I felt at lying to Rose disintegrated. "Of course. I might not be an alien like he is, but being an American in London is as alien as I'm going to get. Even I need a break once in a while." A smirk played on my lips. "I might just join him."

"No you're not."

"Why not?" I countered, raising an eyebrow. "It's just a walk. What's wrong with a walk?"

"Why are you going for a walk? Aliens on Earth and you're not doing anything?" Rose teamed up with me, grilling the Doctor for all her worth.

"Oi!" The Doctor's hands flew up in defense. "Nothing to do with me. It's not an invasion. That was a genuine crash landing. Angle of descent, colour of smoke, everything. It's perfect." He didn't lower his hands until we hadn't thrown a question at him for a few seconds.

"It's perfect, so?"

"So maybe this is it. First contact. The day mankind officially comes into contact with an alien race. I'm not interfering because you've got to handle this on your own. That's when the human race finally grows up. Just this morning you were all tiny and small and made of clay. Now you can expand."

As the Doctor kept talking, I could see him almost glow with each word. It made a grin start growing on my face. He might put up a fuss about it being too human for him, but his surprise at our species glowed like a sun. It didn't change his wierdness at all, but I felt that nothing could change that.

"You don't need me. Go and celebrate history. Spend some time with your mum."

As the Doctor took a couple steps away, Rose's anxiety practically screamed out at me. "Promise you won't dissapear?"

The Doctor hesitated for a few seconds, telling me everything I needed. He fished around in his pockets before holding something out. "Tell you what. TARDIS key. It's about time you had one. See you later." Just like earlier that day, the Doctor took off without warning, forcing me to trot to keep up with him.

"So, where are we really going?" I ventured, eyeing him as we tromped down the stairs. "You might be able to fool Rose, but I can tell you're not the 'wandering' type."

"_You_ aren't going anywhere," the Doctor corrected sternly, with none of the playfulness he'd used with Rose. "I get into enough trouble by myself, I _don't_ need you tagging along after me. You'd slow me down."

Such curt refusal made me blink. I frowned and grabbed his arm, making him stop in the middle of the aley. The look he shot me almost made me wish I hadn't. Almost. "Slow you down? Is that why you lied to Rose?"

The look in the Doctor's eyes grew a little dangerous. "Don't."

"Sorry," I muttered, though I really wasn't. I still didn't let go of his arm, no matter how frightening his eyes had become. "But if you're going to check on that alien, won't you need some sort of backup? I mean, it's probably surrounded by soldiers with itchy trigger fingers and you're not exactly subtle. You might need help."

"No, I don't." The Doctor's hand removed mine in a grip that was almost painful. "I manage just fine on my own, thank you. Better that way. Now, Jessica Gale, go home. I've done enough to your life as it is. Go home, pull yourself together, watch the teley. Do whatever you do on a night like this. Anything but come after me."

"But ..."

"_Now_."

My jaw hurt from how hard I clenched it. Leaving the Doctor on his own just felt ... wrong. Like a thing that shouldn't be done. There was nothing I could come up with at the moment to further argue the point, however. "Fine," I sighed, fixing him with a look of my own. "Don't do something stupid that can get you hurt." Before I could see his reaction, I turned and marched back to the top floor, my lonely apartment calling my name.

An Idea had started to form by the time I reached my door.

There was no way I was going to be left behind again.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Yes, this one is a lot shorter than the others. I just felt that the end was a good place to break it off. For readability purposes, of course. **

**Also, a reviewer asked if I was planning on including the Master in future chapters. My answer is of course! Not only is he a major point in the Doctor's timeline, but in Jessica's future timeline as well. And that' s all the spoilers from me. :D **

**Please, please, please let me know what you think! The reviews keep me going!**

Aliens of London

Part 3

By the time I returned to the alley by the Tylers' apartment, I'd changed into more suitable clothes: jeans; old, black turtleneck, green trench coat, and my favorite pair of converse sneakers (or whatever the British version of them were called). I even had my bag of odds and ends slung over my shoulder. Even I didn't know what I'd stuffed in it anymore. If I was able to convince the Doctor to at least let me tag along, I'd better make sure I had some usefull things to help out.

Rose and a guy I think was her boyfriend were already outside. "He wouldn't go. He promised me." Desperation and fear folled off of her. Not bothering me in the slightest, thanks to the Doctor.

"Oh, he's dumped you, Rose." The man crowed. "Sailed off into space. How does it feel, huh? Now you are left behind with the rest of us Earthlings. Get used to it."

_No need to take it over the top._ I snorted and just leaned against a pole, crossing my arms.

"He would've said," Rose murmured, turning in a circle. She stopped when she spotted me, though. "Oi, Jessie! Where's he run off to? You said you were going with him, so where is he?"

I pressed my lips together and shrugged. "I tried to go with him, Rose, honestly. The Doctor wouldn't have it. Don't get mad at him, though," I added with a shrug. "He probably wanted you to spend some more time with your mom. Or he wanted to keep you from itchy trigger fingers."

"But ... he wouldn't just leave like that. He promised."

Jackie Tyler emerged from the building. "What're you three chimps going on about? What's going on? What's this Doctor done now?"

That only set the boyfriend off again. "Ho, ho, ho! He's vamoosed!"

"He's not, because he gave me this." She held up the key, eyeing it like it was the most precious gift in the universe. "He's not my boyfriend, Mickey. He's better than that. He's much more important than..." Rose yelped, almost dropping the key.

The key which now glowed a bright gold.

The chaos of Rose trying to send her mom inside faded around me as the TARDIS' wheezing seemed to fill my senses. A giddy smile worked its way onto my face. I couldn't help it. Seeing the blue box fade in and out until it became solid filled me with such ... such a mix of warm, thrilling feelings that I didn't know what to name them. Rose was the first to burst inside.

On a rare spike of daring, I followed her, experiencing some sort of vertigo as I stepped over the threshold. I prided myself on not gaping like an idiot. Although I did stare at the inside since I didn't have time previously. My grin spread a little wider.

Gorgeous.

The Doctor was circling the main console, not even bothering to look at who exactly stood in the entrance besides a quick glance. "All right, so I lied. I went and had a look. But the whole crash landing's a fake. I thought so. Just too perfect. I mean, hitting Big Ben. Come on. So I thought, 'let's go and have a look.'"

"My mum's here."

I winced. The Doctor didn't do domestic yet Jackie was sneaking in behind me, staring dumbstruck at the interior of the TARDIS.

An annoyed glower darkened the Doctor's face as he glanced at all of us in more detail. "Oh, that's just what I need. Don't you dare make this place domestic. And you," he added, shaking a finger at me, even more dissapointment radiating from his lean form. "I told you to stay home. Don't you Americans ever do as you're told the instant you're told to do it?"

I made a face. "Nope."

The boyfriend, Mickey, who'd snuck in behind Jackie, couldn't stay silent any longer. "You ruined my life, Doctor. They thought she was dead. I was a murder suspect because of you."

"You see? Domestic." The Doctor snorted, somehow turning that word into some kind of four letter word.

His stubborness made me want to reach out and give that shiny head another good smack.

"I bet you don't even remember my name."

"Ricky."

"It's Mickey."

"No, it's Ricky."

"I think I know my own name."

Another scoff from the Doctor. "You think you know your own name. How stupid are you?" Somehow, his scowl turned my way again and intensified. "Not as stupid as she is, but close enough."

"Hey!" I snapped out of my observation and gave the Doctor a withering glare of my own. I even resorted to putting my hands on my hips, an action that I rarely used because it made me feel so stupid. Not with the Doctor, though.

The chaos of Rose, Jackie, and Mickey flew out the door again until it was just the two of us.

"Don't ..." I burst as the Doctor opened his mouth. No doubt he planned on saying something that would get me off the ship. "Don't even try, Doctor, because I'm not going to be so easy to get rid of again. Not after searching for you for years." I strode up until we were only a couple of feet apart. He was still over a foot taller than me, but that didn't make me back down any. "You're stuck with me until I get some answers."

"No, no, and again, no!" The Doctor snapped, moving around to the other side of the console, forcing me to follow. He didn't come across as annoyed anymore, just angry. Almost furious, even. "What part of 'stay home' don't you understand? It's far too dangerous for you to come with me."

"You're taking Rose!"

"That's because I asked her to come and, unlike you, she knows what she's doing." In a split second, he turned and stalked towards me until our faces were inches apart. His emotions pulsed against my barriers, making me doubly grateful that I coulodn't feel even a fraction of what I used to. "You have a chance to live a normal life, Jessica Gale. A normal, long, peaceful,. boring human life. Not many humans I meet have that chance. I'm telling you, turn around and ..."

"Do you want me to slap you again?" I snapped, chest almost bursting with anger and frustration. I punched his shoulder, hard. "I'm not some hopeless American or idiot human, you know. If it makes you feel better, I'll leave once you help me figure out who I am, alright?" I softened my tone on the last bit. I wasn't a complete idiot, unlike him.

The Doctor glared at me longer, probably hoping I'd give in. When neither of us moved in at least three minutes. A muscle in his jaw twitched then he straightened. "Fine. Just don't slow me down. You'll be no use if you can't keep up."

"Ha. So you _do _think I can help." I flashed a grin at him, but held my hands up in defence at the Doctor's glower. "Okay, okay, I get it."

Rose charged back in, so thankfully we didn't have to continue the awkward conversation. "That was a real spaceship."

"Yep." The Doctor's voice somehow managed to return to normal in the span of a few seconds.

"So it's all a pack of lies? What is it then? Are they invading?"

Mickey stuck his head in. "Funny way to invade, putting the world on red alert."

The Doctor's eyebrows shot upwards. "Good point. So, what are they up to?"


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Yes, another chapter so soon! I'm on a roll! Don't get used to it! **

**Anyway, a special thank you goes to TimeladyAlly for giving me such encouragement with your regular posts. I always love posts since they give me inspiration for working. :D Please let me know what you think of my stories, everyone! **

**Also, any and all questions will be welcome and I'll answer if I can without giving away spoilers. Anyway, enjoy!**

Aliens of London

Part 4

Of all the wonderful gadgets the Doctor could have in the TARDIS, the last thing I expected was a TV.

A TV. On a spaceship.

Well, I'd signed on for wierdness.

There wasn't that much room around the tiny screen, so I just leaned against one of the strange branch collumns as everyone squeezed in for space. "How many channels do you get?" Blurted Mickey, gaping like a nerd at the TV.

"All the basic packages," quipped the Doctor, more than a little distracted.

"You get sports channels?"

Oh for goodness' sake.

The Doctor's roll of his eyes matched my own. "Yes, I get the football."

"You mean soccer," I muttered with a smirk. One of the idiosyncracies of British English versus American English that still drove me crazy.

Mickey snapped a look my way. "No, it's football."

I snorted. I certainly hadn't planned on anyone hearing me, but now that we were engaged ... "But Americans already have football. We needed another name and used soccer. Makes more sense to me, at least."

"Well, over here it's called football, which makes more sense since you actually use your feet with it."

"Oi!" Of the two of us he could glare at, somehow the Doctor settled on me. "I'm trying to watch. Cause enough trouble and I'll ... hang on, I know that lot." With the short-attention span I'd come to expect from him, the Doctor leaned so close to the screen, I was surprised that he could see at all.

I couldn't see anything, but at least my ears worked.

_"It is looking likely that the Government's bringing in alien specialists - those people who have devoted their lives to studying outer space."_

The Doctor's frown dug trenches into his forehead. "UNIT. United Nations Intelligence Taskforce. Good people," he sniffed.

I frowned myself. Though there were more people in the room, I could still feel small pulses and it felt like the Doctor had just told another un-truth. It didn't surpise me that he didn't like them.

I wasn't the only one who'd been confused by that statement. Rose tilted her head at the Doctor. "How do you know them?"

Well, now to earn my keep. I raised my hand like an eager kid in class. "Oh, I know this one! He's worked for them before." When everyone stared at me, I felt my ugly, splotchy blush start at the base of my neck and work it's way up. I shrugged. "Majoring in journalism, so researching isn't that hard." My pile of information on the Doctor and Jack sat guiltily in the back of my mind.

Mickey's face grew smug. "So did I. Don't think I sat on my backside for twelve months, Doctor. I read up on you. You look deep enough on the Internet or in the history books, and there's his name, followed by a list of the dead."

I'd guessed that was what the Doctor had meant by dangerous. A shiver passed over me, which I tried my hardest to fight back. Nothing about the Doctor would discourage me from staying with him. Not even if Death followed him as well.

"That's nice," the Doctor snorted. "Good boy, Rickey."

"If you know them, why don't you go and help?" Rose protested.

"They wouldn't recognise me." He made a face. "I've changed a lot since the old days. Besides, the world's on a knife-edge. There's aliens out there and fake aliens. We want to keep this alien out of the mix. I'm going undercover. And er, I'd better keep the Tardis out of sight." Some form of giddiness began eminating from him as he headed towards the doors. "Ricky, you've got a car. You can do some driving. No, not you," he added without turning. "I'm letting you tag along. that does _not_ mean you get driving privilages."

A little hurt at the words 'tag along,' I thought about storming after him and giving him the smack of the century. It didn't matter that it might get me kicked out. At least the Doctor would have what was coming to him. "Fine. Geez, no need to be so touchy." Not the best retort I could come up with, but better than nothing.

Sure, just keep telling myself that.

I sighed and tromped after the others.

Moments after we stepped outside, we became blinded by a spotlight. "Nice, Doctor," I grumbled as police surrounded us. "Now who's the one causing trouble."

I simply grinned at the whithering scowl he fixed me with.

Two could play the snark game.

Downing Street.

10 Downing Street.

Britain's version of the White House.

Rose and the Doctor were ecstatic. I couldn't care less. Still an American at heart, perhaps.

If we'd been sent to the White House, on the other hand, _then_ I'd be as hyped up as they were. Perhaps.

Or maybe the Doctor's block wasn't working as well as I'd thought after all. Granted, the pressure hadn't grown to the levels of the Tylers' place. Not by a long shot. Still, my private world was beginning to shrink again. So much so that I'd begun to feel a bit claustrophobic. Too many people in a tight space. Even more chaos than the apartment.

I turned towards the wall for a moment, pinching the bridge of my nose as I tried to focus. How could a small, sunken town like my mind keep those thousand foot tsunamis from overwhelming it? How could the Doctor manage? Did he even posess empathic abilities?

A warm presence of nothingness blocked out the light. The Doctor cleared his throat. "It's not too much, is it?" He murmured, most likely to keep other from hearing, but a fair bit of guilt had softened it as well.

I wanted to say yes. To keep him feeling guilty for having faulty barrier teaching. I couldn't, though. That just didn't sound like ... me. "Nah. I'm good. Just tired, that's all." I turned and tried a reassuring smile, slipping my hand into my pocket. Just one pill, maybe. Just in case. "You're bordering on being snoopy, on top of being rude." My fingers met nothing. Where did I leave it? "Trust me, I'm ..."

"You're not getting them back," the Doctor's murmur took on a harder edge. His eyes growing so intense, I forgot that there were dozens of people cramed in around us. "If you ever want to control yourself, you'll have to do it without drugs. Do you understand me?"

Aside from the fact that he'd stolen my painkillers, I only felt desperation and fear. I bit my lip. "But it's not working, Doctor. I mean, it's not like before, but ... You haven't done a good job at explaining things very well."

Guilt caused the Doctor to wince before he could stop himself. "I don't have time to get into this now, but you're not taking any more."

"Then what do I do?"

"Doctor!"

Both our heads snapped around to see a secretary heading our way. The Doctor sighed then pinned me with a sincere look. "Just ... try and think of a moment, any moment, when you felt absolutely nothing in your head. Try and create that moment again. Should do for now, I think."

"Does it work for you," I breathed, desperate for some sort of proof that the Doctor knew what he was talking about. "Tell me, does it work?"

A look I hadn't seen on his face before transformed the Doctor from a bumbling alien into someone who'd become tired of ... everything. Great clouds filled in behind his eyes. For a moment, his whole posture sagged. "Depends." His reply came so quiet that I almost missed it.

Rose popped out of nowhere, bringing our discussion to a crashing halt. "Everything alright?" Her excitement such a contrast to both our moods yet she didn't quite see that.

The fastest recovery on planet earth flashed over the Doctor's face in a smile. "Fantastic."

Moments later, the secretary reached us, holding the Doctor a card. "Here's your ID card, sir. I'm sorry," he added as Rose made to go with the Doctor. "Your companions don't have clearance."

"I'm not his companion ..."

"I don't go anywhere without Rose."

Our mutually annoyed glances almost had me smiling again.

"You're the code nine, not them. I'm sorry, Doctor. It is the Doctor, isn't it? They'll both have to stay outside."

"Rose is staying with me," the Doctor almsot growled, all good humor fading in the wake of the technicality.

The secretary glanced at the Doctor, Rose, and I before sighing, giving in just a fraction. "Look, even I don't have clearance to go in there. I can't let her in and that's a fact. Your ... assistants will have to stay outside."

Rose huffed and waved the Doctor away. "It's alright. You go." She actually turned to grin at me. "We'll keep ourselves busy out here."

I made a face. "_You_ can go keep busy. _I'm _going to do some internet digging." I pulled out my phone and wiggled it at her. "That's what I'm good at, after all." Meeting the Doctor's eyes once more, I plunged into the crowd and made my way to an isolated corner that still had a view of the room the Doctor was heading into.

Anything to try the Doctor's recommendation.

There were two memories I knew of that might fit the bill: the first time he'd cleared my head at the restaurant and out on the balcony not a few hours ago. Inhaling slowly through my nose, I closed my eyes and pictured how it felt the first time my mind had cleared. The first time in years I could think properly.

Nothing.

Then the moment outside came to mind. The gentle way the Doctor had pieced me back together a second time. Like he was afraid to hurt me. As if he cared what hapened to me. I could have been immagining things, but the way his fingers braced my head and the sensation of his mind on mine I couldn't forget. A blush started on my neck and waddled its way up my face. I wished I'd been able to open my eyes and see him from a close proximity.

On reflection, I could even remember how his breath had warmed my face.

Just like magic, Impenetrable walls had risen between me and the sea of everyone else. I didn't run the risk of drowning any longer.

"Jessica?"

I jerked as hands were placed on my shoulders.

"No, no, no. Don't bother looking. Not yet." A forehead rested against mine. Warm breath similar to the one I'd immagined brushed my face. Fast huffs like his heart was racing. The grip on my shoulders was almost painful. "This will sound wierd and I know you won't trust me, but I need you to listen. Really, truly listen. Can you do that? For me?"

I forced a swallow down a throat that had gone dry as a desert. There was something wrong with what the man was doing. I could feel it in my core, though how, I didn't know. Everything in me screamed for me to trust him.

I nodded.

The man let out a shuddering breath. "When you get through this, you'll have a chance to be normal. To live a normal, boring life here on Earth. You'll want to go, live a life of adventure. It's how you've always been." A smile worked its way into his words. His tone sounded forced, like something was clogging his throat. Tears, perhaps? "I'm begging you, don't. Please, just ... don't."

The plea, the desperation in him that bleeded through my new shields without effort brought pricks of tears to my own eyes. His words registered somewhere in my mind. Those words sounded so familiar.

Realization made me gasp. "You're trying to change your past, aren't you?" I breathed.

His hands spasmed on my shoulders, and the forehead jerked away. "What?"

I snapped my eyes open before I lost the nerve. Though they were behind the geekiest pair of glasses I'd ever seen, those deep chocolate eyes were unmistakable. "You mentioned something that I haven't done yet in the past tense. That means you're from my future. Something happened that made you want to change your entire history from this point on."

"What?" The twisting confusion on his face made a small grin appear on mine.

"I'm not an idiot. I can work things out."

His smile was a sun exploding in my chest. With no warning, he threaded his fingers in my hair and pulled my head forward to kiss it tenderly. "Brilliant. You're so brilliant even this far back." Such sadness then filled his eyes that I couldn't hold back a couple tears any more. "You have no idea how much I don't want to be here. Seeing you again, it's ..." A high-pitched squeal from one of his pockets yanked his eyes down and he swore. "Don't go with him, Jessica. Don't go. Please." Then he did something that had me completely off guard ...

He kissed me.

Not one of those gentle, tender kisses I'd seen in the movies. A full, crushing kiss that stole my breath away. It set my skin on fire. I didn't ... couldn't think. Didn't even try as I found myself responding with one of my own.

I'd never been kissed before. Not like that. Not ever.

A loud gong resounded thorugh the hallway. He growled and tore away, making it several dozen feet before I could move. "I'm coming, I'm coming!"

I was still frozen when the Doctor burst out of the room, screams of agony following him.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: I've been writing faster than I've ever written before! I don't know what's come over me. I should be studying homework, I know. . Anyways, here's yet another one! I'm just on a roll! **

**Warning: I might have a dry spell soon if I can't find a way to keep this going. It always happens with me. :D **

**Thanks for all the reviews and reads! Hope you enjoy!**

World War Three

Part 1

By the time I'd pulled my blush under control, the Doctor had come charging back with soldiers right behind him. Hopefully the Doctor stayed oblivious.

Were my lips swollen at all?

Shaking my head, I shoved my way next to him. "Doctor, just what on Earth is going on? What did you do?"

"Aliens in Downing Street." Came his breathless response, a grin almost splitting his face in two. "Try and keep up."

He actually grabbed my shoulder and hauled me in after him.

I almost regretted following him. At least a dozen people, all dead. My hand flew to my mouth and my stomach roiled. The safties around my little mind wavered. I could feel the agony they'd went through before they'd died as a sour-lightening on my tongue. How had the Doctor escaped?

"Where have you been?" Exclaimed an overweight ... well, _fat_ man in a suit from the front of the room. Another"fat" man in a soldier's uniform stood next to him. "I called for help. I sounded the alarm. There was this lightening, this kind of, er, electricity, and they all collapsed."

I glanced at the Doctor. The dissapointment there confirmed my suspicions. I snorted. "That's the worst excuse in the history of excuses." I hadn't meant for it to be said too loudly, but the slight twitch of the Doctor's mouth told me otherwise.

"I think you will find the Prime Minister is an alien in disguise." The pause following the Doctor's announcement almost made me laugh. "That's not going to work is it?"

Shaking my head, I tried to control the sudden racing of my heart. I'd seen the tension of the Doctor's shoulders even beneath the leather jacket. "Nope. Nice try."

Making a face, the Doctor grabbed my hand. "Fair enough." He practically yanked my arm off as he tore out of the room, forcing me to keep up with him.

Our charge came to a screeching halt as soldiers filled the hallway in front and behind us. With another arm-jerking tug, the Doctor shoved me until my back was against the wall, which put him in between me and our pursuers.

I was _not_ thinking about how nice he smelled.

Instead, I focused on the wall behind me. My fingers brushed against something I'd know in any country. Buttons. Elevator buttons.

I'd never pressed a button so fast in my entire life.

The fat general pushed through the sea of black, quite red in the face himself. "Under the jurisdiction of the Emergency Protocols, I authorise you to execute this man and his pretty friend!" He snapped, waving a finger at us.

I gulped and squeezed the Doctor's hand tightly. If I focused too hard, I could feel the guy's malice jabbing at me. I'd never felt that kind of ... hatred before. That almost scared me more than the fact we might die.

The Doctor squeezed my hand in return, the smile on his face not even trying to hide his nervousness. "Well, now, yes, you see, er, the thing is, if I was you, if I was going to execute someone by backing them against the wall, between you and me, little word of advice..."

_Ding!_ I'd never loved a sound so much at that moment.

"Don't stand them against the lift!" The Doctor almost knocked me over, shoving me inside the elevator while keeping me behind him. He pulled out the silver device from his coat and aimed the little blue light at the controls, causing the doors to close a thousand times faster than they should have.

Feeling the slight jolt as the elevator began to rise, I sagged against the wall. Either adrenaline or stress bubbled inside until it came out as a short laugh. My hand slapped against my mouth. Laughing would _not_ help the situation at all.

Then the Doctor barked a laugh, giving my shoulders a squeeze. "Brilliant! Just brilliant, Jessica Gale!"

A shiver passed over my skin at the familiar gesture. "So I'm not useless after all? Am I still worth keeping around?"

"Just this once," the Doctor replied shortly, some of the giddiness dissapearing into the sternness I'd seen before. Not as intense, but still potent. "Do you see why I didn't want you to come? It's dangerous."

I shrugged with a little grin. I did _not_ want to talk about that when there were aliens running around. "I don't know. At least it's not boring, right?"

A harsh sigh puffed out of the Doctor's chest. Yep, definately annoyed with me now. He opened his mouth to reply when the doors slid open.

A real, proper, alien-looking alien froze on the other end of the hall. Green, with an E.T. head and a gorilla body with long, sharp-looking talons. Rose and a woman were struggling with a door at the other end.

Without even thinking, I stuck my fingers in my mouth, whistling as loud as I could. The alien jerked around in our direction. Although my heart pounded against my chest, I flashed a cheeky grin and waved. "Hello! Need a lift?" Thankfully the Doctor was already sending the doors shut again. "Oops! Too late! See ya!"

With the annoyance on the Doctor's face, I could almost see him beating it against the wall. Or smacking _me_ upside the head. He didn't say anything. I let him be. Who knew was was going on in that head of his? "How's your head?"

I blinked, momentarily too stunned to answer. I'd thought he'd forgotten in all the rush and chaos. I smiled at him. "Better now. I ... uh ... I found a memory that'll do the trick. Well, two, but I can switch between them, you know?" Okay, shut up. That was the nerves, I told myself. Not because I was nervous being in the small space with him. Just adrenaline. Nibbling on my lip, I fixed the Doctor with a look. "Are _you_ okay, though?"

The Doctor's eyebrows crinkled. "What? What are you talking about now?"

"You were in the same room as those people. I don't know what ... what killed them, but if they all died at once, the aliens must've tried to kill you too. So, again, are you okay?" I kep my tone soft. He didn't seem the type to complain.

If the Doctor was stiff before, he became so rigid I thought I could get a paper cut just by looking at him. Shutters slammed down behind his eyes, face going as blank as possible. "Course I'm fine. I'm always fine. Aliens in Downing Street in people suits and you're worrying about me?"

"Someone has to." He'd lied about being fine. Well, I thought he had, but with all his emotions non-existant to my mind, I couldn't be sure. "Rose has you on a pedistal. I don't. You don't have to lie to me." The words just came easily, like I'd planned on the awkward moment all along.

Now the Doctor's face had become so guarded and full of warning that I knew I'd stepped over some sort of line. "I'm _fine_," he almost growled before turning away from me, rubbing his head and muttering. Something along the lines of "bloody empaths" and "shouldn't have gotten inside her head."

Thankfully, the doors finally opened and the Doctor almost tore out of there, leaving me to scramble after him. When the Doctor ducked into a room, I thought he'd ditched me. Then a hand gripped my arm and yanked me back into the Doctor's hiding space. "Doctor, what ..."

His hand clamped over my mouth. He shook his head.

Then I heard voices nearby. Alien ones. "It does us good to hunt. Purifies the blood."

My eyes widened. How the Doctor had heard them I had no idea. I wasn't about to complain, though.

"We'll keep this floor quarantined as our last hunting ground before the final phase." Another one. This voice didn't sound that different. Just enough to tell me that there were two aliens out there.

We hardly dared to breathe as the aliens left. It only then occured to me how tightly pressed together we were ... and how I'd rested my hands on his chest in the moment of confusion. Beneath my fingertips, it rose and fell in a short, quick rythmn. Adrenaline, or whatever the Doctor had that worked the same way. As I focused, I could feel a distinct beat under my palm.

One-two, one-two. Or even one-one, two-two.

That didn't belong to a normal heartbeat. Could he have more than one?

_Now is not the time to be thinking about anatomy, idiot._

That only made it worse. The hand on my mouth smelled distinctly him. Rough, but not unkind. I lifted my eyes to his and when they met, I couldn't ignore the way my whole insides turned a thousand summersaults in one instant. I cleared my throat and glanced at his hand again. I couldn't use my hands to move it without making it more awkward.

As if remembering it was there in the first place, the Doctor jerked his hand away. "Now will you shut it," he snapped, breath a low whisper.

I smiled. "Only if they get this close again. I'm afraid it'll take a lot of work to get me to shut up."

"Clearly," he muttered, but a glint had appeared in his eyes. One that twisted my insides even more, if that were possible. A little bit of a smile started on his face, as well.

In the awkward silence, I could've sworn I'd felt that breath hitch a couple times.

Maybe.

"So," I cleared my throat again. "Now that they're looking for us, what do we do?"

"Come on, Doctor. You're the smart one! Think of something already!" I snapped, more from adrenaline than annoyance as the group of aliens loped even closer. My whole skin seemed on fire.

In spite of the danger and our predicament, running with the Doctor, Rose, and the woman -who'd introduced herself as Harriet- was the most fun I'd had in a long time. If they did this on a regular basis, I was definately sticking around.

The Doctor grabed a decanter that was almost full and held up that device to it. . "One more move and my sonic device will triplicate the flammability of this alcohol. Whoof, we all go up. So back off." Even to my ears, he sounded crazy enough to do it.

I almost smacked my forehead with my palm. "Really," I muttered. "That's it?"

Rose elbowed me, hard. "Oi, leave him alone."

At least the aliens believed him.

The Doctor straightened at once, his relief nudging at my senses. "Right then. Question time. Who exactly are the Slitheen?"

"They're aliens," came Harriet's reply, her grip tightening around the red box.

"Yes. I got that, thanks." Ha, his tone had morphed into the same one he used with me.

One of the aliens tilted its head. "Who are you, if not human?"

"Who's not human?" Oh boy, Harriet definately had trouble keeping up.

"He's not human," Rose and I replied at the same time, grinning a little at each other.

"He's not human?"

I made a face. "Duh."

The noise coming from the Doctor had already begun sounding familiar. "Can I have a bit of hush?"

"Sorry."

A quirk of the Doctor's eyebrow was all the response I got. "So, what's the plan?" He addressed the aliens, who so far hadn't said a word about the chatter.

"But he's got a Northern accent," Harriet protested.

Rose's grin spread a little more. "Lot's of planets have a north."

The Doctor almost growled. "I said hush. Honestly, Jessica, she's as bad as you. Now, you've got a spaceship hidden in the North Sea. It's transmitting a signal. You've murdered your way to the top of government. What for, invasion?"

The aliens' postures changed, sending my bad vibes off the scales. How much longer till they decided to try and call his bluff? "Might want to hurry it up, Doc," I whispered, shifting backwards a couple steps.

"Why would we invade this God-forsaken rock?" Scoffed a Slitheen.

I could almost hear the wheels in the Doctor's head spinning. "Then something's brought the Slitheen race here. What is it? And would you shut it," he added, glaring at me yet again.

"The Slitheen race?" Their amusement smacked against my barriers as they laughed. "Slitheen is not our species. Slitheen is our surname. Jocrassa Fel Fotch Pasameer-Day-Slitheen at your service."

Wow, and I thought _my_ name was bad. "Gazundheit," I giggled a little, even drawing a glare from Rose this time.

"So you're a family." I didn't need to see his face to feel the bitter irony behind the Doctor's words. He didn't do families and yet he'd had to deal with Rose's mom and now an alien one. All in one day.

"A family business."

The Doctor perked right up, like a lightbulb suddenly went off in his head. "Then you're out to make a profit. How can you do that on a God-forsaken rock?" If anything, the wheels in his head had picked up the pace.

I could feel my heart racing in response to his growing excitement.

The aliens paused, not good. "Ah, excuse me? Your device will do what? Triplicate the flammability?"

There went our safety net.

The Doctor shuffled a little, his sheepish grin practically screaming at me. "Is that what I said?"

"I told you to hurry up." I sighed, resisting the urge to smack his head again.

"You're making it up," pronounced one of the aliens. I really couldn't tell one from the other.

"Ah, well! Nice try. Harriet, have a drink. I think you're gonna need it," he added, reaching backwards and completely bypassing me.

"You pass it to the left first," the woman corrected.

The Doctor switched sides without changing tone or face. "Sorry."

Rose took the decanter while making a face. "Thanks."

"Now we can end this hunt with a slaughter." The Slitheen began taking a step forward.

I gulped. Prayed that the Doctor actually had a plan.

"Don't you think we should run?" Rose insisted, backing up a step.

The Doctor hadn't moved, so neither would I. I shook my head. "It would be like trying to outrun a gorilla. Not possible."

"Fascinating history, Downing Street. Two thousand years ago, this was marsh land. 1730, it was occupied by a Mister Chicken. He was a nice man. 1796, this was the Cabinet Room. If the Cabinet's in session and in danger, these are about the four most safest walls in the whole of Great Britain. End of lesson." He reached to a small panel and pressed a button I didn't know was there. "Installed in 1991. Three inches of steel lining every single wall. They'll never get in." His self-confident grin was almost contagious.

Almost.

I crossed my arms, fixing him with my best scolding glare. "Great idea intially, Doctor, but how are we getting out of here?"

The Doctor's glare vanished quickly as our situation dawned on him. If he'd been the type, I'd swear he'd be blushing as he shuffled on his feet. "Ah."

"Do you ever think that far ahead ..."

"You. American. Shut. Up."


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Sorry about the wait. Midterms and a stressful event happening IRL have drained my brainpower until now. Anywho, here's another chapter! Hope the next won't take so long. . **

**Thank you to all the reveiwers and faves! Especially those who I look forward to hearing from each chapter. :) You can't immagine how seeing reviews from the same people makes me feel! :D All warm and fuzzy! Keep em coming!**

World War Three

Part 2

_Beep, beep!_

All of us save the Doctor nearly jumped out of our skins. I couldn't see what had made that noise.

Harriet did. "But we're sealed off. How did you get a signal?"

Signal?

Rose held up her cell phone and waggled it triumphantly. "He zapped it. Super phone."

I frowned, an idea working its way from the back of my mind while I tried not to feel too jealous. Of course the Doctor would give her some upgrades and cool gadjets. They'd been traveling together for a while. He'd actually come back to ask her to go with him. Whereas I ... well, I was just the poor girl who got dragged along with them.

Technically, I'd volunteered, but I decided to ignore that little detail.

"It's Mickey."

The Doctor made a face. "Oh tell your stupid boyfriend we're busy."

My thoughts exactly.

"He's not so stupid after all," Rose countered, holding up her phone to reveal yet another Slitheen.

"See? This is what happens when you bring family into the mix."

I snorted. "Or an American." Hopefully I'd said that quietly enough that no one heard me. I gnawed on my lip as I finally realized what the idea was.

Jack.

Jack said he could travel in time. That could mean he could help with aliens. If he knew about aliens. He could be one for all I knew. Still. Anything to help, right?

Stuffing my hands in my pockets and digging up my phone, I cornered the Doctor on the other side of the room. Thank goodness he liked to pace. "Look, Doctor. I know you're not too happy to have me here, but I am."

"Not now, Jessica," he grouched. Well, at least he remembered my name.

"Doctor, I might know a guy who can help us."

That got his attention. Irritation transformed his whole posture. "Why didn't you say so earlier? Useless, that's what you are ... ah! Again, with the bloody hand!" He rubbed the back of his head with a glare.

I glared back. "We were a little busy trying not to get killed and you were caught up with your 'triplicate the flammability' stunt." I inhaled slowly, pinching the bridge of my nose. "Sorry. I know a guy who can travel in time, too and no, I won't tell you who it is," I added as his mouth opened. "If you'd met him already, you'd know who I'm talking about. Please, Doctor. Let me try and do something."

The Doctor stared at me. For what felt like the longest time, he just ... stared. Didn't say anything. Didn't even hint at what could be going through his mind. It made me very uncomfortable, but I kept my eyes glued to his. Finally, his head bobbed in a stiff nod and he took my phone, using that device of his.

"There," he sighed, tossing it back. "It better not be your boyfriend. I already have to deal with one that won't take a hint. One condition, though ..."

I swallowed, but nodded. "Fair enough. What is it?"

"You tell me who this man is the instant I see him. I hate having someone popping in and out of time without telling me."

That I could do. It would be interesting, to say the least. "Deal. Just don't beat him up, kay?" I briefly rested my hand on his arm. I remembered his reaction to being touched, but I couldn't help myself. "Thanks. I'll be quick, no worries."

As soon as I was by myself, I entered Jack's number with trembling fingers. I'd never thought I'd actually be calling him. He seemed more the type to call _me_ instead of the other way around. Would he even pick up? As the ringing went on and on, I began to doubt that I'd come up with such a good idea after all.

_"This really isn't the time, Jess!"_ Jack belted out, nearly deafening one ear. _"I'm kinda in the middle of something!"_

"Ow! Jeez-Louise, Jack!" I yelped, drawing everyone's attention my way. Blushing, I waved them off. "No need to blast my ear off. Where've you been, anyway? I thought you'd have called me by now."

A sudden explosion of noise on the other end made me wince and hold the phone away from my ear. Then nothing but what sounded like Jack panting for breath. _"Wait, what? We just talked last ... Oh."_ He trailed off, annoyance and what sounded like dissapointment bleeding through the speaker. _"Time check?"_

"Uh ..." Right. I could've beat my head into the wall. He'd recommended we check ourselves before talking much. Stupid me. "I ... uh ... killed you with my car? Though, you were the one who popped right in the middle of the road, so technically, that wasn't my fault."

I was babbling again.

"Wait, does this thing call through time?"

_"Ah, Doc forgot to mention that bit, didn't he?"_ Jack huffed, but a smile had come into his words. _"So he's just soniced it. Great, that actually helps. Sorry it took me a while to answer. This Vortex Manipulater is supposed to tell me what time period you're calling from, but I think it's broken. Again."_

I rolled my eyes. "You should get your money back for that thing, as often as it's useless. Wait, you're sidetracking me, stop it." Glancing at a still-pacing Doctor and the others, I decided to try my idea. "Look, I'm with the Doctor, Rose, and this woman named Harriet ..."

_"Jess ..."_

" ... and we're kind of stuck in Downing street with Slitheen ..."

_"Jess, no."_

"What?" I tried to ignore the plumeting of my heart. This time, I did lean my head against the wall. "Why?"

Jack's sigh carried all the frustration I held and then some. _"It's just not the time, Jess. You guys need to get out of this on your own. Let the Doctor get to know you. As much as I hate to say it: right now, you need the Doctor more than you need me."_

"But ..."

_"No 'buts,' Jess. This has to happen. Besides,"_ he added with a kind of false cheer. _"If it helps you to blame something other than me, there's way too many timelines crossing. Makes it almost impossible to use the Manipulator to get there, if it wanted me to, anyway."_

"You're ... you're just making excuses now." The tightening in my chest became very painful. Why couldn't I do anything right when it came to the Doctor? It almost hurt to breathe, the dissapointment almost became too much.

_"I wish I was."_ Jack chuckled weakly. A loud bang made me jump. _"Look, if it helps, give me a call in say ... a couple of days. We'll be able to talk then, I promise."_

I couldn't keep a grin off my face. "You're sure about it this time?"

"Oi! I said no calling your boyfriend!"

"Oh for crying out loud, Doctor, he's not my boyfriend, so just chill!" I hollered back with more than a little bit of annoyance. "Sorry," I muttered, rubbing a hand over my forehead. "It's a bit of a mess and I'm feeling quite useless."

_"Hey, don't start thinking like that. The fact that he's giving you a hard time prooves that you're helping him just by being there. He's way too dense to admit it though. Especially _that_ Doctor."_

_"Jack! Quit your flirting and help us with this bloody thing!"_

_"In a minute!" _Jack retorted with almost the same tone as I'd used. _"Sorry. it's a bit of a mess here, too. See you later, okay?"_ With that, the line went dead.

"No luck with the boyfriend?" The Doctor snorted. He practically radidated smugness. Especially when I jumped at the sound of his voice.

I reacted without thinking. Spinning around, I punched him in the shoulder. Hard. "One: don't ever sneak up on me like that again. Two: he's not my bloody boyfriend, he's a time traveler like you, so relax. Three ..." I actually stumbled on that, not quite thinking my list through that far. "Well, let's just say there's a rain check for Three, cause I'm sure you'll be giving me even more excuses to hit you in the future."

The Doctor practically shot upright like a Jack-in-the-Box, a manical grin blossoming on his face. "Great. Just making sure. Now you can shut up and let me think of a way to get us out of here in one piece!"

_"Oi! I'm talking to you, space-man!"_ Came Jackie's voice blasted from the phone. _"I've got a question, if you don't mind. Since that man walked into our lives, I have been attacked in the streets. I have had creatures from the pits of hell in my own living room, and my daughter disappear off the face of the Earth."_

Rose gaped a little before recovering. "I wanted to go, mum."

As if that would stop Jackie Tyler. _"I've seen this life of yours, Doctor. And maybe you get off on it, and maybe you think it's all clever and smart, but you tell me. Just answer me this. Is my daughter safe?" _

I sucked in my breath at that. During Jackie's rant, I'd trailed behind the Doctor closer to the table. Being in such close proximity to him, I was gobsmacked by the ammount of dread and unhapiness that the woman's words caused to radiate from him. The different type of tension in his shoulders as he leaned against the table screamed of things he wanted to forget but couldn't. I could almost taste what could've happened over those nine-hundred years of his.

Couldn't hold back the tears that stung my eyes.

_"Is she safe? Will she always be safe? Can you promise me that? Well, what's the answer?"_

The Doctor seemed frozen by guild that threatened to consume him. Even with my barriers up, the strength of his emotions was enough to make me wonder why no one else could feel them. Moved more by instinct than common sense, I reached up and squeezed his shoulder. Just a little touch that lasted no longer than a few seconds.

It caused his eyes to snap in my direction. For a few brief moments, his eyes were so old and world-weary, I almost did cry. Old and haunted by things he'd seen. So lonely yet he didn't want to trust anyone. Didn't dare to.

_"Well? What's the answer?"_

If that woman spoke one more time ...

_"We're in."_

Oh, I could've kissed Mickey. If he wasn't taken and completely not my type.

And if I was dead first.

The Doctor perked up as well, probably as glad for the distraction as I was. Anything to keep him from thinking about an unpleasant subject. "Now then, on the left at the top, there's a tab, an icon. Little concentric circles. Click on that."

A strange sound worked its way through the speakers.

_"What is it?"_

"The Slitheen have got a spaceship in the North Sea and it's transmitting that signal. Now hush, let me work out what it's saying." The frown on the Doctor's face didn't bode well for a minute. Did he even recognize the language? "It's some sort of message."

"No duh, Sherlock."

"Oi ..."

"Yes, yes, I know. Shut up." I made a face, plopping down on a chair. I didn't hold it against him, however. There was just something about him that begged me to be a pain in his backside. I just couldn't help it. It happened as impulsively as the need to touch his shoulder a little bit ago.

Rose leaned over the speaker, locking her eyes on the Doctor. "What's it say?"

Lucky girl was oblivious to the turmoil inside the doctor brought on by her mother.

"Don't know," he murmured, such a frown on his face. The fact that his voice had lost all of the zing gave away how hard he was thinking. "It's on a loop, keeps repeating. Hush." The last was tossed dismissively as a doorbell rang.

_"That's not me."_

I sat on the edge of the chair, heart pounding. My phone had said it was three in the morning. Who would be ringing the bell that early?

_"It's him! It's the thing, it's the Slipeen!"_ Jackie shouted, panic raising her voice to an all new level of shriek.

_"They've found us."_

The Doctor made a noise. "Mickey, I need that signal."

"Never mind the signal, get out! Mum, just get out! Get out!" Rose's fear for her mom was thick in my mouth, blocking out almost everything until Harriet's loud voice drove me from it

"There's got to be some way of stopping them! Doctor, you're supposed to be the expert, think of something!"

The Doctor paced away from the table, running his hands over his head almost violently. "I'm trying!" By all rights, steam should be coming out of his ears from how hard the wheels in his head must have been turning.

The silence grew until I found myself clenching my jaw. Rose straightened and pinned the Doctor in her fiercest stare yet. "That's my mother."

I could feel his indecision as if it was constantly slapping me across the face. Right, empaths were supposed to help, right? Well, time to start helping. I smiled in a way I hoped was encouraging. "Come on, Doctor, you've got this. How many planets are in traveling range, anyway?"

For the first time since finding him again, the Doctor smiled at me. Actually, properly smiled with no sarcasm whatsoever. "Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant. Which planet though?" He rested his hands on a chair, eyes focused somewhere else. "So, Judging by their basic shape, that narrows it down to five thousand planets within travelling distance. What else do we know about them? Information!"

Rose perked up and snapped her fingers. "They're green."

Okay, that was obvious.

"Yep, narrows it down."

I recalled what had happened not long ago. "Good sense of smell."

"Yep, narrows it down."

"They can smell adrenalin."

"Narrows it down."

Harriet's excitement added fuel to the fire. "The pig technology."

A grin of pure giddiness had overtaken the Doctor's face. Good. Better than panicking. "Narrows it down."

"The spaceship in the Thames, you said slipstream engine?" Great, now Rose was grinning.

"Narrows it down."

I snapped absently a few times. "Ritual hunting!"

"Narrows it down."

A lightbulb went off and Harriet straightened. "Wait a minute. Did you notice? When they fart, if you'll pardon the word, it doesn't just smell like a fart, if you'll pardon the word, it's something else. What is it? It's more like, uh..."

"For goodness sake, just say fart," I muttered. No one would care if someone said it during a crisis or not.

"Bad breath!" Rose exclaimed, almost jumping up and down with the realization.

"Ha!" The Doctor fairly crowed. "Calcium decay! Now, that narrows it down!"

"We're getting there, mum!"

_"Too late!"_ Mickey yelped as there came a loud crashing sound from the other end.

Now when the Doctor paced, he fairly bounced on the balls of his feet. "Calcium phosphate. Organic calcium. Living calcium. Creatures made out of living calcium. What else? What else? Hyphenated surname. Yes! That narrows it down to one planet. Raxacoricofallapatorius!" His little ... laugh ... thing brought a face-splitting grin onto my face.

"I'm not even going to try and say that Raxa-whatsit again," I quipped, again, hardly able to help myself.

"It's Raxacoricofallapatorius. Again, try and keep up." Well, there went his pure good emotions towards me. "Get to the kitchen! Calcium, weakened by the compression field. Acetic acid. Vinegar!"

"Just like Hannibal!" Harriet exclaimed.

The Doctor's grin grew even wider if that were possible. "Just like Hannibal. Mickey, have you got any vinegar?"

_"How should I know?"_

"It's your kitchen."

Rose scooted the Doctor out of the way. "Cupboard by the sink, middle shelf."

_"Oh give it here. What do you need?"_ Jackie took control of the phone. Just great.

"Anything with vinegar!" The Doctor repeated, shooting me a look that almost made me giggle. At least I wasn't the only one who could be difficult.

_"Gherkins. Yeah, pickled onions. Pickled eggs."_

I mimed gagging, but not the shuddering part.

"You kiss this man?" The Doctor made a face like the one I made.

We waited anxiously until a very audible fart and a disgusting squelch carried over the speakers. Our sighs of relief had me light-headed.

Rose glanced over at Harriet. "Hannibal?"

"Hannibal crossed the Alps by dissolving boulders with vinegar."

"Oh, well there you go then."

I just plopped onto the chair.


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Tada! The end of my second attempt at an actual episode! :D Hope I did an okay job. **

**So, now's the time to explain how I plan on uploading the chapters. There were a few original at the beginning, then the two-part episodes, then I'm going to do a few more original. Soon I'll be doing a few episodes in order, but with plenty of little original things in between. I don't want to just go through each season and be limited by the episodes that aired on TV. There's so much that could happen in between time. :D **

**As always, let me know what you think! Thanks!**

World War Three

Part 3

Hours passed and the Doctor still hadn't said anything. That bothered me more than our lack of escape. With his mind, I'd have thought he would've come up with some brilliant plan within the first hour. He hadn't. The brooding storm that hung about his head set me on edge while bringing out a new wave of pity.

How often did he have to make hard decisions on his own?

"If we could ferment the port, we could make acetic acid," came Harriet's most recent offer. Even she didn't look like she believed that it would work.

Rose sagged into a chair. "Mickey, any luck?"

_"There's loads of emergency numbers. They're all on voicemail."_

Harriet snorted as I rolled my eyes. "Voicemail dooms us all."

"If we could just get out of here ..."

"There's a way out." After so long being silent, the Doctor's muted voice still made me jump. He wasn't looking at us, though. The floor held all his attention. I glanced at his hands, the whiteness of the knuckles as they gripped each other, raising my worry.

My smile intended to be reassuring, but it felt so strained that I was sure it failed spectacularly. I perched on the table near him. "I knew you'd think of something."

His eyes flicked in my direction, looking so old, my heart twisted. At my slight nod, his face tightened and a muscle in his jaw twitched. "There's always been a way out," he added, looking away from me after only a few seconds. He didn't want me to see whatever was going on inside his head.

"Then why don't we use it?" Rose demanded, quite oblivious to the Doctor's feelings again.

The Doctor's lifted his head with strong reluctance, first pinning me in place before focusing on Rose. "Because I can't guarantee your safety. Either of you. _This_ is why you should've stayed at home, Jessica. It's bad enough I've put Rose in danger."

_"Don't you dare. Whatever it is, don't you dare."_

"That's the thing. If I don't dare, everyone dies." Even with his ability to seal off his emotions, the Doctor couldn't disguise how his voice cracked on the last word. I felt myself grow pale from the strength of the Doctor's regret and guilt before he once again closed himself to my senses.

Having gone so quiet, I'd almost forgotten that Rose was a part of the conversation as well. "Do it," she murmured, for once, earning big kudo points from me.

The Doctor looked up at her in surprise before turning to me.

I nodded, the confidence and trust I held for him so strong it almost scared me.

If anything, that confounded the Doctor even more. "You two don't even know what it is. You'd just let me? You could _both_ die."

Pity rose up in me a thousand times stronger than before. Or some other feeling I couldn't name, but it overwhelmed any nervousness or misgivings that I had. I gently nudged the Doctor's hand with my own; they'd only been a few inches apart. "I'd rather die trying one of your ideas than doing nothing at all."

I didn't want to die at all, but that was beside the point.

Rose nodded, the look in her eyes one of complete trust and a feeling a lot stronger than infatuation. "Yeah. We trust you."

The Doctor just gaped at us like he couldn't believe what we'd said. My heart twisted even more to think of what he had to have gone through to be stunned by someone's complete trust. The cleverest man in the universe flabergastered by two simple humans.

_"Please, Doctor. Please. She's my daughter. She's just a kid."_ Jackie pleaded. I instantly wanted to smash that speaker into oblivion. Sure Rose was her daughter, but hadn't the Doctor proven himself already? He had enough self-confidence issues at the moment.

"Do you think I don't know that?" The Doctor snapped, his distress beginning to leak out of whatever impenetrable walls he'd brought up around himself. "Because this is my life, Jackie. It's not fun, it's not smart, it's just standing up and making a decision because nobody else will."

"So what's stopping you?" Rose challenged before I could say anything. She hadn't moved from the other side of the table, but the longing to reach out to him bleeding through her eyes made up for that.

The Doctor looked between me and Rose several times, growing slower with each pass, as if he didn't want to stare too hard. Those eyes settled on me and stayed there. "I could save the world but loose the both of you," he finally managed, hand nudging mine away.

I wouldn't have it. Not this time. I moved that hand to cover his as gently as I could. To have to be the one to make a decision like that ... I knew I wouldn't be able to live with myself and yet the Doctor's agony made me think that he'd done this several times. He might be nine-hundred years old and an alien who didn't like to be touched, but I was willing to bet that he needed reassurance just like any other living being. My mouth managed to curl upwards in a small smile. One that I didn't feel, but it might help him.

We'd all forgotten about Harriet. "Except it's not your decision, Doctor. It's mine." She proclaimed, drawing herself up with as much dignity as could be salvaged at this point.

_"And who the hell are you?"_

"Harriet Jones, MP for Flydale North. The only elected representative in this room, chosen by the people for the people. And on behalf of the people, I command you. Do it."

Harriet's sharp, commanding tone came like a fresh breeze, stirring up all the despair and blowing it out the window.

I'd never seen the Doctor look so relieved when he squeezed my hand.

"I thought I knew the name. Harriet Jones, future Prime Minister. Elected for three successive terms. The architect of Britain's Golden Age." The Doctor shook his head with a wierd sort of grin as said woman became surrounded by cameras.

Stuffing my hands in my pockets, I just watched him. Not only did my head hurt from being tossed around, it ached just by the impossible task of wrapping itself around the Doctor.

True, he'd been as surprised and overjoyed that we'd survived, acting like a big kid at Christmas. That wasn't what bothered me.

He'd even spun me around in a bear hug for a brief moment before remembering who I was. I didn't mind that at all.

Just before the missile had hit, when we'd hid in that closet, the Doctor had taken my hand and Rose's, squeezing so tight, I couldn't feel anything. As we started getting flung around, though, he'd shoved me into a corner, covering me from the debris.

Technically, I could argue that he'd been protecting Rose as well as me. The seemed to be more the case, since Rose had traveled with him a lot longer than I had. Even so, my immagination had begun running away with me since then.

Halfway back to the apartment, the Doctor glanced back at me. When our eyes met, his neck obviously flushed and his head snapped around again. Those long legs of his moved even faster. He said something that soon had Rose laughing as they began drawing away from me.

I scowled. Something about that closet had the Doctor avoiding me like I had the plague. I didn't need more of a hint. He'd leave me behind if I didn't corner him soon.

The warning, the plea, I'd gotten back in Downing Street echoed through my mind. He'd seemed so desperate that, for a second, I considered giving in and just going home.

Only for a second. If my guess was right, he'd be changing history. The thought of it tingled in my mouth like sour metal. That was wrong. I didn't have to know a thing about time travel to know that. No, I was going with the Doctor no matter what some time-traveler said.

_"Don't you dare."_

I gasped and stumbled over my own feet as a thought not my own broke its way past my barriers.

A pair of arms caught me before I could hit the sidewalk. They vanished as soon as I had my feet.

"Thanks," I muttered, but that was all I managed to get out. Turning around, I came face to face with the man from before. My scowl reached a new level. I acted without considering the consequences and my hand flew, connecting with the man's face, not the back of his head.

He didn't even try to protest, taking a step back. A dark look had entered those eyes. "I told you not to go with him," he murmured.

Somehow, that quiet anger unnerved me more than if he'd yelled.

Rubbing my now aching hand, I barely lessened the intensity of my glare. "You mean you don't want me to go with _you_. I don't know how this works, but I'm _not_ going to help you change your own personal history, _Doctor_." I spun on my heel and began marching towards the receeding backs of my Doctor and Rose.

"Stop it, Jessica!" Future Doctor darted until he was blocking my path, forcing me to stop. "You can't go with him! Please."

"Isn't changing someone's personal timeline against some sort of rule?"

The faintest twitch of a smile eased some of the intensity of his face. "It goes against everything I believe in ... and you thought of that on your own, didn't you?"

I shuffled, the abrupt change in his tone bringing my planned tirade to an explosive end. "Um ... yeah. So _why_ are you so bent on doing something you don't want to do? If I've read the right things about time travel, wouldn't you stop existing?"

Future Doctor sighed, running his hand through shaggy hair. "I should've known youd be clever in any timestream," he muttered, but there was enough fondness in his words to lessen any of the anger that was left. "You trusted me back in that room, Jessica, when you didn't have a reason to. I'm _begging_ you to go home. I don't want to ..." He trailed off, a grim smile making him appear so many centuries older.

Dread filled me as the TARDIS' wheeze reached my ears. They were leaving! With a yell, I flung my bag at the man before sprinting the rest of the way down the street. "Doctor! Stop! Wait!"

I skidded around the corner, but I was too late. The TARDIS melted into nothingness.

My one chance to find out who I was, to travel in time and space. Gone.

The Future Doctor. He'd know how to catch up with my Doctor. I sprinted back to where I'd left him.

He too was gone and so was my bag.

Which was resting on my dining room table when I went home along with two new items:

A Vortex Manipulator and a pocket watch.


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: I know, I know. Two in one day. Don't get used to it, people cause I have two research papers due soon, so I'll be extra busy. Still, thanks so much for your feedback and I hope this original chapter lives up to your expectations. :D**

The Wierdness Never Stops

Two days.

I had to live with questions running circles through my brain for two ... whole ... days.

That and the occasional flurry of excited texts Artie and the rest sent me. No matter how long our conversations lasted, though, my mind still went to the Doctor, Downing Street, and my ... presents.

Why on Earth or any planet would the Doctor tell me to stay away from himself and then give me things which weren't from the planet in the first place? What was I supposed to do with a Vortex Manipulator anyway? It didn't even turn on, just sat on my coffee table like a bit of steampunk jewelry.

The watch, however, barely left my hands. I couldn't stop playing with it. After two days of staring at the scroll-work, all I'd figured out was that it was old and probably worth a lot. None of my searches online worked to find something similar, either.

By the time I'd wolfed down my breakfast that second day, I'd already come up with a thousand and one questions to pester Jack with.

One, two, three, _six_ times it rang before I gave up.

I collapsed onto the couch with a huff, trying to ignore the dissapointment that chruned my stomach. Of course. With a cell phone that might be calling through space now, I'd probably gotten the wrong version of him. Nothing in my life was going to ...

That annoying bumble-bee ringtone made me yelp as I fumbled to open it. Jack. "So, too busy to answer the phone now?" I blurted. Probably not the best first sentence I could've come up with.

_"Huh? What are you talking about?"_

"Two days, you said," I reminded with more of a smile on my face. Unlike the Doctor, I didn't have to feel so ... old with Jack Harkness. "Call you in two days I did, but _you_ are too busy to pick up on the first ring."

_"What?"_ Jack's confusion was so strong, I could almost see his face scrunching up. _"_I_ called _you_."_

Oh, great going, Jessica Gale.

I smacked my face with my hand, my inner critic sounding suspiciously like the Doctor. "Gosh ding it! Remind me to thank the Doctor for royally messing up my phone. Did I call the wrong you again?" I could see my life becoming very complicated, very fast if this continued.

_"Um ... for once, I have no idea what you're talking about, Jess." _Jack laughed. _"Don't think that'll be the last time, though, knowing you."_

"Speaking of time, I need your help with something."

_"Anything for my favorite girl."_

Okay, that was awkward.

I cleared my throat, poking the Manipulator. "I found a Vortex Manipulator thing in my apartment."

_"You what?"_ Now I knew what it sounded like to have a man yelp. _"Jess, don't touch the thing! You could end up in the fifty-first century and get stuck there or worse! Don't do anything till I get there!"_

"Woah, woah, woah!" I nearly jumped off the end of the couch. "First off, it's not even charged or whatever. There's no lights, no nothing and I've had it for two days. I think if it was going to go off and send me who-knows-when, it would've done it already." Then something he said made me pause. "Wait, you know where I live?"

_"Course I do. Just do me a favor and don't move from your couch."_

"My couch? What?"

Of course Jack wasn't listening. _"Just stay put and I should be there right about ..."_

A snap and a pop followed by that distorting of the air I was becoming familiar with interrupted him. Jack Harkness popped into my living room. " ... Now. How's that for timing?"

Then the coffee table he'd appeared on top of teetered off balance with a crash.

"Seriously, everytime we end up meeting face to face, I bleed. Ow!" Jack yanked his head away from my hands with a dramatic wince.

I sighed, glaring at the pitiful excuse of a man sitting in front of me. "Really, Jack? For such a confessed hero, you're such a big baby when it comes to cuts and bruises." My whole medical drawer was spread out on my kitchen counter. All to find something to clean that cut.

"It hurts!"

"I barely touched it!" I retorted, falling back on my timeless classic of smacking the back of said head. "Now stay still while I get this on. Don't want to have to tear the hair out of the skull of yours when we take it off."

"Thank you," Jack sighed with heavy sarcasm. "I like my hair the way it is, thanks." In spite of his protests, this time he didn't even twitch as I set the bandaid over the small cut. That didn't keep him from making a face when I was done. "It still hurts, though."

I barely raised my hand when he made an exaggerated dodge. "Want me to hit something else? Take your mind off it?" Same as before, I felt comfortable and relaxed around him, like we'd been friends for a long time. If it was any other man, I'd be worried.

Jack's grin and chuckle was contagious. "Your bedside manner sucks." He leaned a little my way.

"Well that's what you get for being an idiot."

"Hey, I said it wasn't my fault!" He shook his wrist. "It's this thing. I was lucky that I managed to get the right room, let alone the right area. I could've ended up in a wall."

I mock-pouted. "Is that supposed to make me feel sorry for you?" My hand mimed a talking mouth while I gathered up the things for the trash. "Blah, blah, blah. That's all I'm hearing. Who's in charge of pushing the buttons? You are, so don't go blaming the tech. You could've driven here, after all."

An awkward silence passed until Jack took a sharp intake of breath. "Speaking of which, what the h*** are you doing with this thing?" He reached over and turned the rogue Manipulator over. His change of topic was clumsy at best, bordering on ridiculous. "It's not mine. Not even mine from the future."

"That can happen? How can you tell?" I leaned against a nearby chair, interested in spite of myself.

Jack grinned and held the two devices together. "See? No sparkage. To put it simply, if they were the same one at two different points in time, they wouldn't be able to touch each other without giving off some sparks."

"Sparkage?" I raised an eyebrow, crossing my arms. "Is that a technical term or are you dumbing it down for me?"

"Now _that_ I'm not going to answer if I want to keep my head intact." Jack winked and tapped the screen, but it didn't do anything. "Well, there's no power, that's a good thing. You said you found it on the table? Who else has keys to the house?"

"No one. I don't exactly know that many real time travelers." My mind had started spinning again. Only Jack and the Doctor time-traveled. That I knew of. How _would_ I know if someone was a time traveler or not?

Jack ran his hand through his hair, a gesture I was becoming familiar with. He tossed the dead Manipulator back on the table. "Well, I don't know what you're doing with this thing. As long as it's not glowing, then it should be safe to keep around. My friends could even do some tests on it if you want, but ..."

"But?"

The smirk on his face gave me goosebumps and confused me enough until I had no idea what he was feeling. Jack came over and ran his hands down my arms. "But then we wouldn't be alone for one second today." With gentle fingers, Jack tilted my head upwards then did something that I'd never expected.

He kissed me.

Jack ... kissed ... me.

I froze. I couldn't move anything. Couldn't even think. Why was he kissing me? I barely knew him. I mean, I liked him, but not in that way. At least, I didn't think I did.

Did I?

Finally Jack pulled away, confusion and hurt screaming out of his eyes. Fear clouded his eyes as well. "Jess? What's wrong? What's going on?"

"I ... um ... What I mean to say ... is ... uh ..." Why, oh why couldn't I make a complete sentence?

Jack swore, understanding lightening his eyes and he jerked away. "Oh, c***, I didn't check the date. Please tell me we've ..." When I said nothing, he swore viciously and tore over to the balcony doors on the other side of the room.

Assaulted by his bitterness and a thousand and one other emotions, I could do nothing but stare for a while. He was definately in love with me. Without a doubt. How that happened, I had no idea. A day still in my future, no doubt. Something to look forward to.

Yes, I just thought that.

Sighing, I joined him at the paned doors. I rested a hand on his arm gently. "Quit beating yourself up, Jack. We all make mistakes. With time travel, I guess we both have more complicated ones."

"That's just it, Jess," Jack ground out from clenched teeth. "I'm sick and tired of having to double-check when we are every time I see you. Sick of having to lie to you. Sick of seeing you so happy with ... him. Sick of ..." He had to phisically reign himself in and he beat his head against the glass. "Just sick of _everything_."

I tried smiling, but couldn't manage it. "I ... I don't know if this will help, but if I hadn't ... you know ... _liked_ it, you'd have gotten something a bit worse than a smack on the side of the head." Great, now I was blushing like a splotchy tomato. Totally unatractive.

Though his chuckle came out strained, Jack's smile, such as it was, carried real relief. He draped an arm over my shoulders and brought me to him in a hug, the warmth of his breath giving me the shivers. "I _am_ sorry. Well, no I'm not, but ... you know what I mean."

"Well, I could still punch you if you want. You look kinda like a punching bag if I look hard enough." I made a show of squinting at him.

"Ouch," now Jack sounded happier, though not back to his old self yet. "Talk about beating a man when he's down. Harsh." Pausing, he looked at me with more seriousness than I'd ever seen from him. "You sure you didn't ..."

I shook my head, biting on my lower lip. "No, actually. You just caught me by surprise. It's ... it's like I've known you for a long time already, if that makes any sense."

He gave my shoulders a squeeze. "It's called being an empath, Jess. Sucks, huh?"

"You know about that?"

"Course." Jack grimaced. "That's why I hate lying to you. Well, one of the reasons. You always seem to know."

Relief made me light-headed. He knew. Someone besides the Doctor knew about me. Such an elation filled me that I acted on the first instinct that came to mind.

I kissed him.

Hard.


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: So here's my first original chapter in a while. I hope I did okay, but please let me know what you think!**

**Thanks to masterdude94 for helping me with ideas! I needed someone to bounce them off of!**

**As always, please read and review!**

A Date ... With Angels

Part One

"So tell me, Miss Gale, how old are you?"

I giggled as Jack's breath tickled my ear. "You're one to talk, Mister I'm-several-hundred-years-old. Aren't you supposed to know already?" I planted my elbow in the blanket and rested my head on my hand, staring at him with a raised eyebrow.

I couldn't get enough of staring at Jack. The steady wind in the park had his hair constantly bristling and flopping in his face. His eyes were gleaming in the way that hinted at mischief, one I usually paid a wary attention to. Just looking at him made my heart flip over itself.

Nine months.

Nine whole months of nothing but the two of us. No Doctor, no aliens, nothing.

Jack claimed he liked it that way. A normal life and relationship helped him forget about his work.

How could I refuse?

Jack grinned. "Well, I have a guess. You always look the same when I see you and you've never said."

"A lady's got to have some secrets."

He tugged on my hair and twirled a bit of it around his fingers. "True, but for all I know, you could be older than I am."

I raised both eyebrows at him, the underlying emotions beneath the flirting making me giddy as I raised myself a little higher. "Am I supposed to take that as a compliment or an insult?"

Jack braced himself on his elbow, though my head was still higher than his. "Oh a compliment, never doubt that for a second." His face was only a few inches from mine.

I leaned over him a little closer, but was stopped by a wagging finger.

"Ah, ah, ah. Not until you tell me how old you are."

"So mean," I pouted, but the grin on his face was infectious as most of his were. I didn't really see what my age had to do with anything, but if it got me that kiss ... "Fine. If you really want to know, I'm twenty-one in three months. That answer your question?"

Jack's eyes widened even farther than when I'd first kissed him. "Wow ... um ... yeah. Sorry," he added, shaking his head and most of the stunned look away. "I'd thought you'd be older than that."

Well, if he was going to play _that_ game ... I started to roll away from him. "So you're saying I look old now?"

He rolled me back over and kissed me so deeply that I forgot to be annoyed with him.

Dinner made Date Number Twenty-something. I'd forgotten what number we were on, but again, Jack insisted on paying no matter how I protested. By this point, I argued about it just from a habit, kind of like a ritual that both of us now expected. It had us both laughing by the time he'd handed the card to a very annoyed waiter.

Before we left, I ducked into the ladies room, the sparkling cider (my only form of alcohol I'd ever drink) having gone right through my system. Then my phone rang. I didn't even bother to check the caller ID.

On hindsight, I probably should've.

"If this is who I think it is, I'm a little busy right now," I sighed, balancing my phone between my head and shoulder while washing my hands. The bathroom acoustics were unfortunately good. Hopefully I didn't sound like I was in a bathroom.

_"Catch you on a bad day, love?" _Crowed a guy's voice at a level that nearly blasted my ear off. _"Finally patched the phone to the console room like you told me to. Useless? Me? Ha! Though, to be honest, You-Know-Who almost dumped me out to space to remind me. It's almost as bad as having you nag at me."_

Rubbing my ear, I glanced at the ID.

BOW-TIE.

What in the world?

"Um ... I think you've got the wrong number." Instinct began nagging at me, just like with that Doctor with a trench coat. I frowned; it couldn't be, could it?

The guy made a noise. _"Nope! Have you on speed-dial. the TARDIS always knows where you are, which is quite annoying when I don't even have a clue ..."_

"Doctor, shut it!" I yelped, jumping what felt like several feet and backing into the wall. My hand pressed against my chest where it felt like my heart was trying to pound its way free. Only one other guy knew about the TARDIS that knew me as well.

_"Hold on, did you just tell me to ..."_

"Not one more word, mister, or you'll say something I'm not supposed to know yet!"

The silence on the other end didn't hide a long, frustrated sigh followed by a low stream of technobable involving a time-circut or something._ "Sorry," _the Doctor eventually bemoaned. I could almost see him beating himself up. _"I thought for once, I'd gotten it to work right. When are we?"_

This definitely didn't sound like Doctor Trench-Coat-And-Glasses. With my pulse returning to normal, I pinched the bridge of my nose. Well, he sounded younger at least, but that wouldn't save him from a verbal scathing. "You left me behind, you stupid idiot!" I almost shouted, but managed to curtail it to something lower in the decible range.

_"Uh ... besides that. What did we recently _do_? What did _I_ do?"_

Ha, the Doctor was scared of me.

"You're really an idiot. Downing Street? Slitheen? You telling me to shut up every five minutes?"

_"It wasn't every five minutes!"_ The Doctor protested, sounding exactly like a defensive child. _"Ten, maybe, but ..."_

"Doctor!"

_"Right. Thanks a lot, Sexy!"_ He hollered, though no one responded. _"The one time I need you to get it right and you call her too early!"_

I struggled with the annoyance that began rolling in my chest. My mind was just barely coming to grips with the fact that there could be different looking versions of the same Doctor. I didn't have time to think about who could earn such a nickname from this one. A version that seemed even more thickheaded than the one I'd actually hung out with, if that were possible.

_"So ... how long's it been?"_

He sounded so abashed that I had to relent just a little. I mean, I couldn't make him feel properly guilty unless we came face-to-face. "Just around nine months. How long has it been for you?"

_"Spoilers. Wait, _nine_ months? Are you sure?"_

"Uh, pretty darn. I'm counting every day until I can smack Mr. Grumpy's shiny bald head, why?" No way would the Doctor find out about me and Jack when I hadn't even met the guy properly.

_"I'm sorry. I'm really, really sorry, Jessica. You have no reason to trust me right now any more than you did in Downing Street, but I'm gonna have to ask you to."_

The tone of his voice set my pulse skyrocketing again. He knew something about tonight, which meant I told him about what happened. At least I'd live, though the fact of possibly encountering something alien and dangerous almost scared me to death.

"Okay. Hit me."

_"Are you alone?"_

"Um, I'm kinda in the bathroom, but I have someone waiting outside for me." Yep, not telling him about Jack, since the Doctor hadn't mentioned him. "Why?"

Again, that pained noise from the back of his throat. _"I can't ... I can't tell you; your Rules. All I can say is to keep that bag of yours handy and ... and don't blink when you see them. Got that?"_

I inhaled sharply. The immage of my bag sitting on my couch at home a screaming accusation in my mind. "Yep," I managed, keeping most of my nerves from reaching him over the phone.

Pops and bangs sounded from his end. _"Hey, hey, hey! Stop that! I'm getting off the phone right now, so stop your complaining! Sorry, love! The Old Girl's one time-circut shy of a major temper tantrum. Good luck and don't kill me!"_

As the line went dead, my hands began to shake. So he knew I kept odds and ends in that bag for emergencies both real and immagined. Something _really_ bad was coming. I had to get to Jack. Warn him.

Thankfully, Jack stood right where I'd left him, for once ignoring the way a couple of women were oggling him. His smile, which usually made me forget the whole world, barely dented my worry. "There you are. Did you get lost or ... Jess, what's wrong?" A frown began on his face when I didn't respond to him.

I shook my head, grabbing his arm in a vice-like grip. "Not here." I nearly hauled him outside, an increasing urgency growing under my skin like a never-ending stream of adrenaline. I could only walk so fast in heels, though.

"Woah, woah, woah. Hold on a second," Jack protested as I almost ran to his car.

_Hurry. Get home. Get the bag._

"We need to get out of here," I tossed at him. "There's going to be trouble. _Alien_ trouble."

"Wait, what?" Jack stopped abruptly and spun me around, the strength in his arms halting my rush. Seriousness had darkened his eyes. "Jess, talk to me. What the hell is going on?" His tone had gotten lower but much more calm.

I took a deep breath, trying to mimic his control, but I couldn't keep my eyes from darting around us, trying to see through the dark. "I ... I got a call from the Doctor. Don't worry," I added quickly as the frown on his face became something else. "I stopped him from saying anything. Apparently, he hadn't meant to call me Now, but in the future. He ... he warned me that something bad was going to happen and I should have my bag with me. Which is at home," I growled, beating my forehead into my palm.

"He called ..." With a noise similar to the Doctor's, Jack whirled away, both hands pulling at his hair. "Can't keep his freaking hands to himself for one minute!" He began cursing every other word, muttering something about the TARDIS, time-travel, and how the Doctor couldn't keep his hands off me.

The prickles on the back of my neck grew worse. We didn't have much time. "Look, Jack, I don't know what's going on, or will go on between you and the Doctor, but he seemed actually scared. He ... he told me not to blink, if that makes any sense." I kept my tone as calm as I could, though I felt close to panic.

Jack went so still, I was reminded of the first time I saw him in that pizza place in California. "Shit."


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: And here's orignal chapter number 2! My muse was going non-stop with this, though I do apologize if the quality of detail isn't as good. I tend to miss things when I write new chapters and I don't have a Beta-Reader. Hope Jessica impresses in this one! **

**And thanks to all my loyal reviewers and followers! I love you all! Send me your questions and feeback, please! I love 'em!**

A Date ... With Angels

Part 2

Neither of us spoke as Jack tore through the streets of London. Blue and red lights flashed against my face. At least his official government stuff came in handy.

A thirty minute drive took maybe twelve, but twelve minutes gave me time to pull myself together. Not calm down, by any means. No, the Doctor's warning gave me no room to just be complicit about it. Bag, then changed into something I could run in, then pelt some answers out of my boyfriend.

Yes, I'd just called Jack my boyfriend. Only in my head, since he'd never called me his girlfriend. Not yet, anyway.

Jack nearly hauled me out of the car and up the stairs to my apartment. His soldier background screaming from every tense muscle, every glance of his eyes. "Wait," he murmured once I'd unlocked the door. "Let me go first. Just in case."

I nodded, gnawing on my lower lip for all its worth. Waiting for Jack to come out had me dancing on the balls of my feet. I couldn't feel anything inside the apartment, but it would be just my luck that there would be an alien who could hide their emotions better than I could.

"We're clear."

I burst inside. Jack already had my bag in his hands, though he didn't look. "As much as I love seeing you in that dress, I think you'd better put something a bit more practical on."

"You sure you'll be okay?"

The traditional Jack Harkness smirk managed to smooth even more of my nerves. "Please. You're just tossing on whatever's on the bed, right? I'll be fine for a couple of minutes. Now scat."

Oh, Jack knew me way too well. That's exactly what I'd planned. Didn't matter if I ended up wearing poka dots and stripes. As long as the clothes in reach were relatively clean and easy to toss on, they were fair game. I ended up tossing on almost the same clothes I'd worn when I went to Downing Street. Maybe I was thinking about the Doctor, maybe not. All I knew was that the trench coat and converse made me feel even more ready to meet whatever was coming.

"So," I began, leaning on the couch behind Jack. "Tell me honestly. What kind of alien requires you to not blink? And I want the truth, Mr. Harkness. Not some reassurances that we'll be fine when there's a good chance tha we won't."

Jack groaned, massaging his face into his hands. "I'm sorry, Jess. You shouldn't have to deal with aliens; I've tried very hard to keep it that way."

The weariness in his voice brought me to sit next to him. "Jack, what's wrong? Trust me, I can take it, whatever 'it' is."

"Have you ever seen those angel statues in cemetaries? You know, the ones who cover their faces?"

"Um ... yeah. Aren't angels supposed to be in cemetaries?" I had no idea where he was going, talking about decorations when he was supposed to be telling me about aliens. But Jack always told me the truth, even when he didn't want to.

The grimace on Jack's face brought a sick feeling into my gut. "That's the thing: not all of those things are simple statues. Ninety percent of the time they're Weeping Angels. The most annoying sons of ..." He reigned himself in with an effort.

I swallowed past a dry throat. "So ... some angel statues are aliens. Right." Well, at least they weren't alien _looking_ like the Slitheen, so I kind of knew what they looked like already.

"They're only 'alien' when you're not looking," Jack corrected, a distant look entering his eyes. "The way it was explained to me is that they turn to rock when anything living looks at them. Something about a biological adaptation or whatever. They're insanely fast, though, so in the fraction of a second it takes you to blink, bam, they zap you into the past. Or kill you outright if they're really cranky."

"Wait, they what?"

"If they send you far enough into the past and you're stuck, they eat the energy of the days you might have had if you'd stayed in your original time period." He grimaced, waving a hand around. "Don't ask me for the mechanics. I just know the basics and fankly, I don't want to know anything beyond that."

I sank back into the couch, tapping my fingers against my face as the wheels in my head spun a thousand miles an hour. "So that's where the 'no blinking' comes in. What happens if they see each other? Or see themselves in a mirror?"

"Now that I have no idea," Jack grinned and shook his head, a chuckle lightening the mood a bit. "You always think of the wierd questions, don't you?"

"It's not wierd! I mean it: what would happen, you think?"

He shrugged, draping an arm over my shoulders and pulling me to him. "I don't know. Maybe it'll be stuck as rock for the rest of time? The only way you can kill a rock, I think. Make it stay put forever."

I tore into my bag, my heart leaping up in my throat when my hand closed around one of the more random items. I pulled out a decent-sized hand mirror. "Think this'll work? What?" I protested as Jack stared at me like I'd grown a dozen more heads.

"What are you doing with _that_ thing?"

"Um ... I get crazy hair?" I tried, another blotchy red tinge making its way up my neck and onto my face.

Jack laughed. "This pathetic excuse of a mop?" He reached over and ruffled my very short hair before I could do anything. "You don't need to do anything with it except give it a good shake in the morning."

Fighting a laugh of my own, I raised my hand to smack that pretty head of his. He caught it by the wrist before I came even close and pulled me close, claiming me in a kiss that drove all thoughts of a race of killer stone angels from my mind. I felt myself relaxing. My fingers threaded themselves through his hair as my lips parted just a fraction.

Ever the gentleman, however, Jack pulled away long before I was ready to. "As much as I really want to keep this going, I think we have some aliens to look out for." The regret saturated his words as well as the scrunching of his face. "As much as I don't like him, the Doctor would have my head if you got hurt or killed while we were ... uh ... busy."

I sighed. Jack made annoying sense, as always. That didn't keep me from one final kiss before settling back on the couch, though still pretty close to him. "What is it with you and the Doctor, anyway? You almost hate him and that ... I want to know what happened. Why do I feel such strong emotions from you whenever we mention him?"

"Ah ah. Don't ask questions you can't have the answer to," Jack murmured, running his fingers through my hair. The uneasiness bubbling beneath the surface receding somewhat. He'd started trying to keep some of his darker emotions under control. I appreciated it, but that always gave away that whatever brought up those feelings was prety bad. "You'll figure it out soon enough."

I'd opened my mouth to say some smart-alek remark about that when a wave of malice rolled over me. Such a mothball and cottony taste entered my mouth that I shot upright with a violent shudder. My head snapped around, following the increasing feeling of dread to a point just behind Jack.

"Shit!" I'd never sworn a day in my life, but at that moment, I had every reason to.

A stone angel. With bared fangs and vicious, claw-like hands reaching out.

Jack sprang to his feet faster than I did, pulling a gun from one of the many pockets in his coat. "You left the balcony unlocked again, didn't you?"

I winced. One of a few sources of debate between us. I always thought the Doctor would need a way to get inside if he had to. Stupid idea from a childhood movie, but I couldn't help myself. "Sorry, I didn't think it ..." Whatever I'd been about to say was choked out of me.

A hand closed around my throat between one moment and the next.

Double shizzles.

Jack's head snapped my way. Thankfully I kept my eyes on the other one. After a violent string of swear-words, Jack lowered his gun. "Why couldn't they just zap you into the past? Why did they have to be the murderous ones? Jess, I ... I don't know how to get out of this one. Um ..."

My lungs burned; I could barely draw any breath. A burn started in my eyes as I continued to stare at the other Angel. "Couch," I managed, fingers twitching. A lightbulb in my head kept going off.

Understanding began to light Jack's eyes. Ever so slowly, he inched downwards, keeping his gaze on the Angel behind me. He palmed the mirror. "Okay, guys. We've never met, so I can only guess at what looking at your reflection can do to you. Let ... Her ... Go ..."

"Um ..." I managed a weak smile. "They can't do that while you're looking at them."

In the back of my mind, I could feel someone else's fear mounting. Not mine or Jack's. Beneath which there lay something else. Like ... I didn't want to admit it ... it felt like sorrow. But the Angels were killers. Jack said so with so much confidence. Who was I to say otherwise?

But a race that could never look at each other. To never be flesh and blood when they wanted to ...

"Jess, you can't expect me to ..."

"Just blink, Jack, cause frankly, I need to very soon and in order for the Angels to do as you ask, then you'll have to as well."

"But ..."

"Trust me." The fear inside me had already begun to change. It felt more along the lines of pity. "Just blink, okay?"

We shared a look. One that made me trust my instincts even more.

We blinked.

In that insane ammount of time - just a fraction of a second - the hand around my throat vanished and the Angel behind Jack did, too. Gasping for air, I lurched for Jack and the mirror before spinning around. The Angels had moved next to each other near the wall. Hands over their eyes.

"Hey, you okay?"

I nodded, my mind working fast. "Okay, boys. I'm going to keep blinking, but you'd better not move cause if you do, I've got a mirror with your names on it. You too, Jack, kepe blinking. I have an idea."

We blinked again. The Angels didn't move.

Okay. Time to be clever.

Though their anger and malice still pretty much overwhelmed everything they were, another emotion still wiggled beneath the surface. I frowned, trying to understand what it was. My head felt wierd, like I was pushing a muscle I'd either never used before or rarely used it at all. I kept searching, though, trying to be gentle, though I had zero control over what I was doing.

"Jess? What's this great idea? This won't work forever, you know." Jack gripped my shoulders in support. Also probably trying to keep me from doing anything stupd.

Too late for that.

Finally, I sighed, lowering the mirror. I hadn't gotten very far with finding out what the Angels were hiding, but I knew they hadn't come after me by choice. Or choose their nature, for that matter. I didn't even know if they had individual personalities or not. Maybe they'd owe me one in the future.

"Jess, what are you doing?"

I shrugged out of his hold, taking a few short steps across to the Angels. I was being incredibly stupid. Who said instincts were supposed to make sense, though?

"Look, I don't know why you came after me and Jack. Right now, I don't care. Please take this chance and go. I'll be more prepared next time, so think twice about coming back."

I could hear Jack spluttering behind me.

Louder than that, however, was the growing disbelief and caution coming from the would-be assassins. I could freeze them into stone for a very long time whenever I wanted. No, that wasn't what I wanted. I was no killer.

"Go on. Get out before I change my mind." I backed up and turned to face Jack, who, though still spluttering in outrage, never took his eyes off them. "Jack, close your eyes for me?"

"But, Jess! They ... they just tried to _kill_ you!"

I managed to smile a little. "I know. But like you said, we can't kill stone and I'm not going to trap them like that forever." I reached up and rested a hand on his face. "Trust me on this, Jack. We'll be fine."

Jack sighed heavily through his nose. Then after only a couple of seconds, he leaned into my palm and closed his eyes.

A gust of wind made me whirl around. The doors were flung wide open.

Both Angels were gone.

Jack spun me back around again in a crushing bear hug. "That was the most ... stupid, senseless, most ... most ..." He gave up with a noise and kissed me so fiercely, I couldn't think straight.

I couldn't belive I'd just faced down two aliens on my own. Well, not on my own with Jack, but definitely without the help of the Doctor. Perhaps I wasn't so useless after all.

A few minutes of serious making out later, we were jolted apart by a frantic beeping coming from my bag. I groaned. "I need to take that," I mumbled, barely pulling away from him as I reached over the back of the couch. "Could be school. Or work."

"They can wait," Jack grunted, trying to pull me back in.

I managed to dodge him, though. "So can you." My hand closed around the offending, beeping object and all the good feelings I'd had vanished in smoke.

Couldn't I have just an hour or two of peace?

"So? Who is it?"

I pulled my bag onto my lap; we'd forgone standing a while ago. My hands wouldn't stop shaking. "It's ... it's not my phone." I pulled out the Vortex Manipulator.

All the lights and buttons were glowing red and flashing.

Jack sprung upright. "What the ... Jess, it's ..." He swallowed visibly, the fear spiking out of control. "Okay, there's nothing I can do right now to stop it. Put it on."

"What?"

"Just put the damn thing on!"

Adrenaline once again coursed through my system as I fumbled with the straps. Jack stood, messing with his own. "Okay, now, this is going to hurt. I"m sorry, but I can't do anything about that. Just ... don't panic, okay? I'll track you down, I promise." Jack darted in for a quick, passionate kiss that scared me more than the rapidly pulsating beeps.

"Jack, what's going on?"

A sick, twisting sensation I'd felt before began growing in my gut. Air began pressing down on every inch of me.

Jack's face was grim. "You're about to time-travel. I know you can handle it, but I'll come find you and bring you back, I promise."

Then everything whirled around me. Pressure increased until I lost my grip on conciousness.


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: Well, Merry Christmas to you all! I received a PM from a reader asking if I'd be able to do a "Christmas Present" by posting the next chapter. Granted, my creativity has been sapped recently due to school, I'm off until the twelfth of next month, so I might be able to get some real work done!**

**Also, this might seem really rushed and the tone of the chapter might change in the middle but only because it was half-way done when I re-started this and I had no interest in changing the whole thing. Sorry about that, but I plan on doing as much as I can with this in the time I have. :D **

**Thanks to all you lovely readers and reviewers! Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!**

Questions, Answers, and Even More Questions

I came to when my back slammed against a very solid wall. I had a moment of peace, then every muscle in my body began screaming at me. Groaning, I doubled over, tilting to the side with my stomach almost in full revolt.

Just like that day in the bathroom at work.

A familiar thrum vibrated through the floor and into my bones, taking away almost everything. I was still very sore, but no longer in danger of throwing up or passing out.

"Oi! How'd you get in here? No one can teleport inside, I'm sure of it."

Hang on, I knew that voice.

I winced, trying to ease myself into a sitting position. Though the pain was a lot less, it made moving very difficult. "Oh, ow." Great first words. Not the scathing the guy so deserved, but something that made me sound like I'd been through a meat grinder.

A part of me realized that he wouldn't recognize me right away. I'd cut my hair since he'd seen me last. Still long enough for Jack to play with, but at least several inches shorter.

The annoyed huff of breath and heavy footsteps warned me of his approach. "Hold on. Don't move." The whirring sound made a reappearance. Even more of the soreness vanished.

"Huh. That thing's more useful than I thought, Doctor," I muttered, tossing my hair way from my face. I didn't glare at him. Not yet. Best see his reaction first.

The stunned, blank expression was priceless. "What?" The Doctor yelped, nearly skidding backwards. "How can you be in here? I made sure you wouldn't have time to catch up because I _didn't_ want you to come with me." Now the anger and irritation came out full blaze as the man jabbed his finger in my direction.

I didn't get really angry that often, but bald-head Doctor Dude really knew how to push my buttons. Lurching to my feet, I marched over and finally acted on the thought I'd harbored for nine months.

I punched him.

Not slapped upside the head.

Not a good smack on his face.

A real, solid, punch that sent him stumbling back.

My hand felt like it had hit the wall. At the same time, my guilt began rising a thousand fold. He probably didn't deserve that. Then again, I corrected myself, thinking about what his future self did to keep me behind _and_ the fact that the Doctor in front of me had _wanted_ to outweigh it. Mostly.

"What ... what the ... what the h ..."

"_That_ was for ditching me and for ... for something you did, but won't do for a while," I finished lamely. There went all of my anger. My barriers had parted enough for me to feel the Doctor's clear shock and hurt. I couldn't keep that up in the face of that. "Sorry, but I've wanted to do that for a _long_ time now."

Massaging his jaw, the Doctor glanced at me up and down several times. "Hold on. You changed your coat and you're not dirty."

"Are you saying I was ..."

"How did you get here? From when?" He stalked closer with the presence of an oncoming storm. A smell I couldn't even begin to name washed over me when he came to a stop mere inches away. "And why the hell did the TARDIS let you in?"

"Stop, stop, stop." My hand snapped up, almost like a barricade between us. A barricade that wouldn't do a darn thing if the Doctor truly wanted to get at me. I had to struggle to catch my breath, to get my mental feet back under me. "One, I have no freaking idea. _This_ dragged me here from several months … well, almost a year … in the future."

I'd only showed the blasted Manipulator to him for a few seconds before he made a grab for it. His hand, much larger and firmer than my own, wrapped around my wrist. The lack of recognition in his eyes set off alarm bells in my head. Had he even heard of one before?

"This isn't Earth technology."

"No duh, genius-who-abandoned-me-for-no-good-reason." The urge to tell him what happened, to demand answers, almost overpowered the common sense not to let the Doctor know about his own future. Clenching my jaw, I yanked my hand away … and actually managed it. "Look, if the TARDIS let me in, doesn't that mean she wants me to be here?"

A flicker of intense curiosity managed to free itself from the Doctor's dark look. His head actually tilted like a bird's. As if the man couldn't get any stranger. "Since when do you call the TARDIS a she? And you still haven't answered my questions as to when you …."

"Don't," I sighed, poking him in the chest despite the dislike that washed out of him because of it. All of the anger just drained away before I could hold onto any of it. "Don't ask questions you can't have the answer to. Time-travel and all that."

With no anger to distract me, I couldn't stop thinking about Jack. How would he ever find me when the Manipulator wouldn't even give me more than a few seconds' warning? If I met Jack again, which one would it be? Why did my life have to be so non-linear? Why couldn't it be just in a straight line with no surprises whatsoever? Why ….

"Are you all right?" The rough, awkward question pulled me out of the hole I'd begun to spiral into.

I blinked, the Doctor coming back into focus. Although, from the sudden lack of hostility and frustration, it could've been a different man. I hesitated. If I met his eyes, I had to be sure of myself. Someone like the Doctor would be able to tell. I gnawed on my lip. Did I lie as the Doctor would, or tell the truth? Lying would keep him from worrying, but in the end, it would still be lying. Telling the truth would help me feel better, but it could put too much pressure on the Doctor's shoulders when I didn't even know how much he already carried.

Taking a deep breath, I glanced into those eyes that seemed so old. "A little wierded out _and_ mad that you tried to leave me, but … I'm fine." Although my brain couldn't even hope to match his in brain power, I sealed away everything except what the Doctor would expect to see.

For a few moments, some suspicion remained in the Doctor's frown, a reaction that had begun to seem almost second nature to him. "Right. So …."

I couldn't help it … I sniggered. "Of all the times to be speechless, Doctor, this is probably one of the worst." There, that should bring some of the normal Doctor back. Snap him out of the emotional pit he didn't seem ready for.

Sometimes, my own hunches scared me. The Doctor snorted and sauntered back to the console. "So, when do I leave you? Can't have you running into yourself …."

"I'm not going anywhere." Those words escaped me before I could even think about them. They were true, though, so I didn't take them back. "This thing dragged me across time and space after being dead for months. I had freaking aliens try and kill me with no warning … _not _that I'm going to tell you about that yet," I added when he opened his mouth to say something. "And you abandoned me, so I think that means you owe me."

"I'm _not_ abandoning you," the Doctor grunted with a violent jerk of his head as he fiddled with the console. The TARDIS hummed to life beneath his hands. "Leaving you behind was the best idea I've had since I found you."

"Why?"

"Because you'd have been safe!"

"And how safe will I be if this thing keeps jerking me from one point in time to another with no way to control it?" Crossing my arms, I met his scowl with a blank one of my own. "With you, I think I stand a better chance of figuring this thing out than on my own."

The Doctor stared at me, leaning his full weight on the console. I could practically see him withdraw to safety. Close himself off from everybody and everything. A defense mechanism I'd seen Jack resort to only a few times. With the Doctor, those walls would be abnormally thick. Too much for me to break through. Not yet.

"All right, fine, you can stay. But only because the TARDIS likes you."

It could've been my head still aching from the sudden time-travel or even wishful thinking, but the sudden acceptance left me … well … shell-shocked. No questions. No last-ditch effort to pry into what I knew or what I'd been doing. I could come with him.

"Although, I'm picking up Rose in a few minutes, so it won't be the two of us. Thankfully." There, the smart-alek Doctor had returned, though it troubled me more than it reassured.

Through my rising giddiness, I managed to crack a smile. My feet started to carry me towards the back. I had to find my room. To think. To gather myself into a normal state of mind before having to deal with the two of them again. "Scared to be alone with me for too long? Afraid I might show you up?"

"Ha! As if you could even come close, which you can't." A faint twitch of his lips gave away the humor I tasted in the air. "Don't touch anything while you're back there."

I tossed a mock two-fingered salute and a grin. "Oh, I won't be gone for too long. I'm not letting you out of my sight."


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: Wow. Over 400 views in around 2 days since I published the last chapter. I can't believe this story is so popular, thank you guys and gals! **

**As always, I'd love to hear your thoughts on the series/book/story (whatever you want to call it) as well as your criticism. I might be getting some facts wrong, so I'd love knowing that to avoid embarrassment. **

**So, this is the last original chapter before "Dalek." I originally planned on doing "Dalek" straight away, but I realized I needed a bit of a filler between Jessica's return to the TARDIS and their first official adventure. I also remember Rose wearing different clothes between "World War Three" and "Dalek," so this felt like the logical step. Don't worry, I'm planning on having a lot of episodes done, though not really in the right order. Hehehehe. **

**Enjoy and don't forget to leave a review!**

Nightmare

"So this thing sent you back in time?"

I shrugged as Rose jabbed at the unresponsive Manipulator yet again. There were only so many times I could explain it to her without giving anything away. Why she expected my answers to change baffled me. "Yup. The Doctor's even said that it's deadlocked, so he can't make any more sense of it than we can."

Rose mock-shuddered with a little smile. "Tell me about it. I've never seen him so … cranky." Her eyes flicked across the room to where said Time Lord had his head stuck underneath the console.

A fire-cozy, glowing taste washed all through my mouth at that look. I might not have been good at keeping my emotions under control, but the timing of it screamed that it belonged to Rose. Whatever that taste meant, it made me shift a little further to the edge of the bench. Away from her. "I wouldn't say he's cranky, just … I don't think he likes not knowing everything." Worried I'd get caught looking, I glued my eyes to the floor.

Bad enough that I hunted him down through time and space – while not on purpose—what would he think if he saw me staring like I knew all his darkest secrets.

Which, I reassured myself with a twitch of my head, I absolutely did not. I barely understood the basics: a nine-hundred year old Time Lord who traveled through time and space; he flew in the TARDIS (which I could swear had some sort of conscience); and that his mind possessed some of the craziest powers ever. Jack hadn't told me much beyond that, either.

Another mental note to smack his head about if we ever met in the right order again.

"Ah, he just likes showing off," Rose grinned, kicking her feet a little. "Like a big kid trying to show everybody just how cool his toys are."

That startled a laugh out of me, one I quickly stifled in my arm. I hadn't even known the Doctor for that long, and already Rose – who seemed oblivious to a lot of what went on in the Time Lord's head—had summed him up just as I had. Well, not exactly like me. The show-off felt like a thin layer of goody-goody over such a mess of a man.

Rose giggled, staring at the Doctor until that warm taste flowed from her in a tidal wave. "I can't believe he hasn't taken us anywhere yet. He took me to see the end of the Earth first time out. With two of us, I could've sworn he'd be trying to top that."

"I'm not complaining. Being yanked away at the end of a very … long night kind of takes the wind out of you for a bit."

"Ha. He's probably trying to get used to the idea that he's got _two_ humans on his precious TARDIS now." That fire-place feeling drifted away, followed by something that just tasted … off. Rose frowned a little, an unfocused look entering her eyes. "Has he told you why he's alone yet?"

I all but snapped to attention, remembering to make my sudden jerk look casual before I got suspicious. A reason behind the Doctor's troubled personality became just as tempting as offering someone to travel in time and space. I rested an arm on the back of the chair, turning all my attention to Rose. "Told me what?"

Rose's brown eyes fixed on me for several moments. A look entered them that I'd seen in the Doctor all too often. She didn't trust me enough to just answer. After a while, she shook her head, blonde threads of hair flying into her face. "Go ask him yourself. Not my place to tell you anyway, I don't think. Well," she added with a stunning change to a normal voice. "I'm off to bed."

"How do you know it's nighttime?" My mouth felt as if it moved of its own accord. My brain still spun over her words and what they could possibly mean. Nothing good from the weight to what I could feel coming from her. Serious emotions always felt … heavier than normal ones. "Is there some sort of TARDIS clock I don't know about?"

"Well, since the Doctor doesn't seem to sleep, I just grab whatever I can," Rose chuckled before drifting over to the Doctor. "Takes a while to get used to."

I didn't hear what passed between them. The whole console room seemed to become fuzzy as I focused more on my thoughts. Did the Doctor trust me enough to tell me something that seemed so personal Rose wouldn't? He already didn't like the fact that I could read and understand the emotions he kept from everybody else. I didn't need to talk to him to know that.

As Rose's footsteps faded away, I rolled to my feet, refocusing on the Doctor. Now sitting cross-legged on the floor with bits of wire and his sonic screwdriver, he didn't even seem to notice that someone shared the room. He kept muttering so much techno-babble that what I did manage to hear sounded like nonsense.

Well, with him pretty much pinned until he untangled himself, I had to take the chance. And risk being thrown out, of course, but … I just _had_ to know. To understand why he wouldn't let anyone past that armor.

"Having trouble finding your room?" The Doctor grumbled, giving me a start. Not once did his eyes rise to look at me, though.

_Note to self: never assume the Doctor's oblivious all the time._

I crouched down next to him, putting enough distance between us so he wouldn't feel crowded. Too much pressure and he would shut down on me permanently. "Actually, I don't think my room's ready yet. The TARDIS kept sending me back here, so I gave up after a few hours." Or she had a sneaky streak and wanted me in the room for some reason. The whole time I kept trying to take a different route only to end up back where I started, I could've sworn the whole ship tingled with mischief.

A frown creased his brow even more. "She's not usually that bad. You were right; she let you teleport inside, so that means she knows something about you that I don't." A sharp rap of the screwdriver on the console voice the annoyance that flavored his words. "Keep trying. She'll let you in eventually."

There. No more prying questions. None of the half-way serious insults. He had no interest in talking to me anymore.

Well, too bad. I didn't … _couldn't_ fall for that dismissiveness without a fight. "Well, it just so happens that I have a question for you." I didn't try to keep my tone light and oblivious. That would be false and I wanted to be as open to the Doctor as I could.

The Doctor sprang to his feet, making a face. "Oh, always with the bloody questions. Can't you humans just stop being so nosy all the time?" A heavy sigh and the Doctor spun around to face me, arms crossed with a long-suffering scowl. "Fine, but just the one then you're off to do whatever it is you do when you're not awake."

"Well," the words I'd planned on using dried up as I stood. They just didn't seem right any longer. I ran my fingers along the edge of the console, ignoring the look they got from him. "I understand that you and Rose have already seen things I can't even imagine and that means you might trust her more than you trust me right now."

"Is there a question in there somewhere?"

That one brought out a scowl to match his own. "I was trying to be nice about it you know, but I can get to the point if you want me to." When the Doctor didn't say anything, I shook my head. "Fine. Rose said … or hinted, anyway, that there's something you haven't told me yet. About why you were alone. My question: what happened?" Even though I kept my voice as soft as I could, the words still made me flinch.

He'd wanted a question, after all.

From the way his emotions and even the expression on his face shut down, I'd hit a sensitive subject with the grace of a sledgehammer.

I swallowed with a throat that had grown too tight. The dull, bleak look in his eyes haunted me, ridiculing me for even thinking to ask that. "Sorry," I muttered, stuffing my hands in my pockets and shuffling back a step. "Don't answer that. It's none of my business. I had no right." Right, not awkward at all. "I'll … I'll leave you alone."

Violently kicking myself to death over and over again in my head, I trudged back to where I'd left my bag. Now he'd never get to trust me. How could I have been that insensitive? That blunt? Couldn't I have waited another day or five? Maybe knowing what caused him to be alone happened to be a privilege after an adventure or two.

"It was a war."

Those few words sounded like they were pulled from him. Spoken so low that they didn't even echo in the room. They still had the power to root me in place, pull me around to stare at a man who'd seen too much. Lost too much. More than the glimpse I saw in Downing Street.

The Doctor didn't quite look at me. "The Time War. Between my people and the Daleks. We lost." Even with half a room between us, I could still see him swallow hard past whatever almost choked him up.

My breath had frozen. I couldn't move or look away. A crack had opened in that armor. One that the Doctor tried to smother before I could read too much, but it still remained. It bled enough to tell me more about him than I felt ready to handle. The loss, the anger, his need to tell someone and the regret that he'd actually told me after I'd thrown him for a loop.

Tears burned in my eyes. I couldn't be reassuring even if I wanted to. Instead, I peeled open my own armor in an attempt to project what I felt would help him. Understanding why he never offered that information right on the spot. Gratefulness that he'd trusted me just enough to tell me that much. Even acceptance that he would tell me things in his own time. When he felt ready, not before.

Our gazes met. My heart faltered and almost stopped. The uncertainty struck me almost as much as the tumult of emotions he'd let me glimpse. He didn't know what I'd do with that much information. If I'd pelt him with more questions or leave him alone like he wished.

Finally, my lips managed to work their way into something like a smile. Whether it came across like I intended remained to be seen. "Thank you, Doctor. Good night."

All around me, the TARDIS hummed as I … retreated out of the room. Yes, retreat before I could get too overwhelmed. A door greeted me right away, an old, wooden one like a log cabin. Whatever the reason behind such a strange door, I plunged blindly inside and collapsed on the bed that waited for me. The room could be all sorts of horrid, but I'd become blind to it all.

Tears finally wove their way down my face and soaked into the blankets. I wouldn't be sleeping very much. Not when I could think of nothing else but how broken and damaged the Doctor had become over nine-hundred years. What he had lost. _Who_ he'd lost. Why he'd trusted me with that admission.

If I could possibly help him return to normal. Whatever normal happened to be for Time Lords.

A shout woke me from a light sleep. Such panic burst from it that I nearly fell out of the bed. The lights were out in my room, not that I knew where a light-switch was, anyway. I waited, gripping onto bedposts that loomed like darker shadows around me. Could it have been just my imagination?

The second, more agonizing cry jolted me to my feet and out the door before it registered that it had been a man's voice. "Doctor?" My voice didn't even echo in the dimly lit hallway, falling flat at my feet. No alarms had gone off. Would the TARDIS have even let something happen to the Doctor?

Another shout from just up ahead sent me racing towards a door just a few feet down from mine. I frowned; that hadn't been there earlier. What had the ship done to my room this time? Whatever she'd done, the door opened before I even touched it. I swallowed past my nervousness at entering a new room in the dark and slipped inside.

Only one light glimmered inside. A globe or something like that sort with the same flickering effect of a candle. I didn't have time to look elsewhere; the thrashing figure on the bed drew every bit of my attention.

So the Doctor did sleep … and have nightmares.

Running over a floor that felt like it had been covered with thick carpet, I reached the side of his bed only to have to dodge a violent jab of his arm. My mouth dried up from the strength of his fear. Even in his sleep, there were barriers around his thoughts, but what I could sense came through a hundred times stronger. For a minute, I couldn't do more than stare at him as he thrashed his way through whatever mental hell he fought through. What could I possibly do to help him that wouldn't get me injured in the process?

The TARDIS thrummed around me strong enough to vibrate through my feet and into the rest of me. An urgency that didn't come from my own worry took hold in the back of my mind. Like a tickle that I couldn't scratch away. I had to trust my instincts. Didn't he call me an empath? So what if I ended up with a few bruises? The TARDIS had to have an infirmary for that.

Biting my lip, I took the opportunity to perch on the edge of the bed in a break from his violent spasms. Sweat gleamed down his face and his bare chest. Though he didn't try and kick or swing, he still twitched almost non-stop, muttering into his pillow. He looked so vulnerable. So … scared.

_All right, girl. Time to be bold for once._

With a shaking hand, I reached out and dared to brush his forehead with it, barely grazing the skin. Even that light contact caused him to jerk, almost shoving me off the bed. I took a deep breath and opened my barriers as much as I felt confident in doing. Every ounce of calm and reassurance I could muster poured out of me. My hand brushed his forehead again, the reaction a little less violent this time. As the seconds passed into minutes and nothing visibly changed, I began to wonder if I hadn't projected the right feelings.

Then, when I briefly pulled my hand away, the Doctor's head turned towards the empty space. My heart took up permanent residence in my mouth. Did that actually happen or did I overreact? With a little bit of hope rising inside me, I placed my hand on his arm. The twitching and muttering slowed down. A grin exploded onto my face. I actually did help him. I didn't have to force the calm and reassurance any longer as I took his hand. Nothing more than that. Just enough to let him know he wasn't alone.

It took a long time for the Doctor to settle down enough for me to believe he slept normally again. It took a bit of work to free my hand. Even then, I just stood there, staring at him with my heart twisting itself into knots. He looked so vulnerable. So lonely. I couldn't leave him alone. Even though the thought of not seeing _my_ Jack ever again ate at me, I knew with a fierce certainty that it would tear at me even more if I just left the Doctor. Rose definitely cheered him up, but she could be oblivious to a fault.

No, I'd stay as long as I could with the Doctor. He'd helped me regain my sanity. The least I could do would be to return the favor.

Slipping outside, I let the door close with a faint click. Now that I had more light, I recognized the hue of the blue in front of me. I smiled. Of course that would be his door. I pressed my hand against it. "I won't tell him if you won't, girl," I murmured. The wood warmed under my skin and an intense satisfaction rolled through me with the flavor that I'd begun associating with the TARDIS.

We'd look after the Doctor together.


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: Well, here's my first official Episode remake since my return from hiatus. I haven't seen this episode myself in a while, so I'm sorry if it's not true to form. Then again, it's AU, isn't it? **

**Also, thanks to the reviewers who left me their love of the last chapter. I'm honored you think so highly of my work. I didn't feel all that satisfied with the quality of writing but your opinions made me realize that I needn't have worried. **

**So this episode's going to be in several parts since I like keeping these chapters around 2000 words if I can. Anything shorter isn't worth reading, and anything over 3500 might be too long for some people. **

**Again, let me know what you think and thank you for your support!**

Dalek

Part One

Needless to say, I didn't sleep much after that. I tried, even changed into some pajamas I found on the bed when I got back to my room. Tried not thinking about what had happened. Tried not to hear the Doctor's shouts and general agony. Everything kept repeating itself over and over in my head the more I tried to ignore it. I gave up after a couple of hours. No use fighting a losing battle.

Bleary eyed, I stumbled my way out into the hall, only to smack my head into a wall. "What now?" I grumbled, peeling my eyes open a bit further.

The TARDIS had to have been in my head. I'd just walked straight from my room into a kitchen. No hallways whatsoever. Just poof, there I stood like a dumb idiot. It even looked like a kitchen on earth. Coffee maker, fridge, stove, you name it.

Eventually I just shook my head. "Do you know how creepy that is?" I demanded of the wonder machine that I'd found myself living on.

And of course the TARDIS said nothing to that.

…

Before I could even scrounge up the courage to face the Doctor like nothing had happened, I had to get changed. When I returned to my room after the grabbing the best cappuccino and scrambled eggs ever, though, my clothes had disappeared as if they'd never existed.

"Oh that's just great!" I snapped, glaring at the ceiling with my hands on my hips. "I need clothes you know and after getting kidnapped by a tiny wristwatch with nothing but the clothes on my back, I think I deserve …."

Something burst open behind me. My umpteenth yelp within two days squeaked out of me. Then it just up and died as I gaped like a big freaking idiot.

A wardrobe full of clothes. So many trench coats, bell-bottom jeans, converse and shoulder bags. The thing had to be bigger on the inside, just like the ship. And how could a wardrobe in a space-time ship look like it belonged in a cabin in the woods?

Then my surroundings dawned on me, sending me into a literal spin. My jaw dropped even further. I'd been surrounded by my Dad's bedroom. Well, my bedroom now. Fireplace at one end of the room; giant bed piled high with thick, fuzzy blankets, four posts, and a canopy; very thick carpet in front of the fire with wood floors everywhere else; high, domed ceiling. Everything I wanted in a room.

"Jessie?" Rose's voice came through muffled and perky. How long had she been up? "The Doctor's actually taking us somewhere this time. Hurry up or you're going to miss it!"

The Doctor.

My enchantment with the room faded, but didn't go away. I couldn't keep the cheek-splitting grin from my face. "Be right out. Just found the closet!" Spinning around, I frantically searched the front row of clothes.

"The what? You've got a closet?" Rose's surprise sent her into the squawking range. "I only got a set of drawers. How'd you get on her good side already?"

"I have no idea. The only other time I've been on board was at Downing Street, so I haven't had the chance to get to know her." Smoky gray trench coat, black jeans, a dark blue tee, and vibrant red converse. My weapons of choice, though I felt pretty sure that the shirt came from the TARDIS. "Plus I got yanked out of my apartment with nothing but the clothes on my back."

I didn't even bother to check to see if the brown bag I snagged from the closet had anything in it. If the TARDIS already knew my size, then who was I to second guess that she could move my things into a different bag, too?

Rose grinned when I opened the door. "Nice. Cozy looking. I've got an exact copy of my mum's flat. My room in my mom's flat, anyway." She grabbed my arm and started hauling me away. "Been to another planet yet?"

"Does London itself count?" Best to keep on her good side since she seemed to be the only one to make the Doctor smile. I didn't want to alienate her when the Doctor still didn't like me very much.

Besides, Rose could serve as a useful distraction and a barrier between me and the Doctor. After last night, I didn't really want to talk to him right away.

Said Doctor had already begun tapping his foot impatiently when we scrambled into the console room. "There you are. Do all humans take so long to get ready?" His eyes didn't even glance my way.

Thankfully not picking up on it, Rose snorted and tromped up to the console. "Nope, just us girls. Get used to it, Doctor, since you've got two of us now."

"Spare me from the madness of humans," the Doctor grumbled before spinning back to the controls. Although I'd pinned my eyes to a point somewhere between the Y-columns and the ceiling, I could feel his gaze snap my way for a few seconds. He gave away nothing except his usual stand-offish demeanor.

"Then why'd you let us stay?" Rose's grin turned mischievous. "So, where are we going? It's got to be an alien planet; it's Jessie's first time out, after all."

Nice, Rose. Force two people who don't really want to talk to each other into the same conversation. Dragged against their will, my eyes eventually found the Doctor's and the identical grimace on his face sent my lips into a betraying smirk before I could control them. "I don't really care where or even when we go. Just wandering around the TARDIS could be considered an adventure in and of itself. Especially when she refuses to keep the same layout twice," I added with a grumble that I didn't mean.

"Well, I never said she didn't like playing games," came the Doctor's retort, not as biting as I'd expected it to be. He ducked back behind the central column, but … did he almost smile?

No, I told myself as the Doctor started darting around and pressing buttons. He had no reason to think well of me after the way I'd pressured that information out of him. I couldn't even forgive myself for that. Why would I expect him to do otherwise?

All of that worry washed away as the familiar sound of the TARDIS filled the room. I grinned as something in the column began pumping up and down. The exhilaration that tingled my chest didn't come from just me. Rose's smile looked just as giddy as mine probably did. Of on an adventure to some strange time and place with ….

The savage buck of the TARDIS threw me against the console. I winced as weird bits poked at me and tried not to touch anything. "What did you do to her?" I demanded as the shuddering continued.

"Me?" The Doctor huffed as he righted himself from where he'd been thrown. "I didn't do anything. Get your hands off of that!" He lunged across the console, hands closing around a dial I'd fallen on.

I skidded out of the way before he'd be forced to touch me. "Well, she's not happy and I know I didn't touch anything before this started, so it _must_ be your fault!"

"Oi! Forget about who did what. Where are we going?" Rose held onto the seat for dear life.

Before the Doctor could give her an answer, the TARDIS' shaking came to a sudden, abrupt end. I tripped when I tried to correct myself. If I hadn't run smack into something solid and warm, I would've ended up on the floor.

Wait, solid and warm? With my worst blotchy blush exploding onto my face, I tried not to look at the Doctor's face too much. I caught his eye briefly, though. "Sorry," I murmured as I managed to regain my feet. Talk about the most awkward moment of my life.

For a few more seconds, the Doctor didn't let go of my arms. That drew my attention inevitably upwards. For a split moment, I could see the apology unveiled in his eyes. Felt it bleed through the contact between his hand and my arm. Just as quickly as I'd felt it, the emotional wall I knew all too well slid back into place. Hiding the real Doctor once again.

That almost made me hurt more than seeing him in his nightmare.

Someday I'd get through that tough armor completely. If I ever got that lucky.

"Right. Now, where are we? Because that wasn't supposed to happen." The Doctor practically ran for the doors with the two of us humans right behind.

"So, what is it? What's wrong?" To her credit, Rose didn't sound the least be worried as we stepped out into a very, very dark room.

The Doctor shrugged, turning around to run his hand along the side of the TARDIS. "Don't know. Some kind of signal drawing the TARDIS off course."

I squinted in the low light. Freaky shadows lurked just beyond the faint light. "Funny, I just thought you were just a bad driver." I hadn't meant for that to come out as loud as it did. My face still burned, I couldn't keep myself from fiddling with my hair.

"Hoy! How many times to I have to tell you to shut it?"

"Where are we, anyway?"

Thank you Rose, bringing the Doctor back to the present. Or past, or whatever timeline we'd landed in.

It took the Doctor a few seconds of glancing around before he said anything. "Earth. Utah, North America …."

"Doctor, I said I wanted to go somewhere other than back home," I fake moaned. "Born and raised in the U.S. Trust me, nothing interesting to see."

"Jessica …

"I know, I know. Shut up again."

Rose made a noise. "Don't you two ever stop?"

The Doctor rolled his eyes, eventually glancing upwards. "I'd also say we were half a mile underground." His restless eyes homed in on a nearby shape that I couldn't see from where I stood.

"And … when are we?" Even though we hadn't left Earth, there still lived some excitement in Rose's voice. Well, being in America would be an adventure for her, wouldn't it?

"Two thousand and twelve."

My hopes for a grand first adventure crashed with a fiery explosion. "Boring. Is this some payback for hitch-hiking?"

"But two thousand and twelve." Rose, for her part, looked … well … stunned? "But that's so close. I should be twenty-six out there somewhere."

Well, the thought of a twenty-seven year old me somewhere in the same country did creep me out a little. What would I even be doing? Hopefully not staying on Earth full-time. I'd go mad.

The lights suddenly blazed on full power, thanks to the Doctor's grabby hands. My protest about maybe tripping silent alarms died in my throat and my eyes widened at what the display cases held. So many weird shapes and things that I couldn't even name. I frowned a little, glancing at the Doctor, who had darted towards the nearest case. If they interested him, the things had to be alien of some sort.

An alien collection meant alarms, if I knew my fellow paranoid American well enough.

Rose whistled, joining the Doctor a few rows away. "Blimey, it's a museum."

"An alien museum. Someone's got a hobby." The life that had come back to the Doctor's voice gave away his interest. I had to almost run to catch up as he darted from case to case. "They must have spent a fortune on this. Chunks of meteorite, moon dust. That's the milometer from the Roswell spaceship."

"Wait, wait, what?" I grabbed the Doctor's arm and pointed to the last thing he'd gestured at. "You're saying that I should've listened to all those conspiracy theories about that thing? I thought it was just a joke."

The smirk that graced his features didn't come from the completely nice category. "Is it that hard to believe? You did just face down Slitheen on Downing Street after all."

"Not _just_, Doctor, not for me," I retorted with a lot less fire than I wanted. I released his arm and ran a hand over my head. "With you, I don't know what a real alien thing is and what isn't now. So just bear with …."

"Speaking of Slitheen," Rose added from a ways away, cutting our conversation short. She stood before something very green and unfortunately very familiar. "That's a bit of Slitheen! That's a Slitheen's arm. It's been stuffed." She seemed very queasy and disturbed.

"Oh, look at you!"

Such a tone coming from the Doctor snapped my head away from the severed arm and towards another case with a metal head in it. A sick twist in my gut made it almost impossible to join him. Those dead eyes and missing part of its head terrified me. Yes, a head with no body scared me even more than the Weeping Angels or the Slitheen. My hands clenched until the nails dug into my palm.

The confusion on Rose's face reassured me that she hadn't seen that alien before. No chance of running into it. "What is that thing?"

An odd kind of satisfaction gave the Doctor's face a bit of a lighter tone. "An old friend of mine. Well, enemy. The stuff of nightmares reduced to an exhibit." He made a face and straightened. "I'm getting old."

Clearing my throat, I managed to gesture at it. "So is that where the signal came from?"

"No," the instant denial proved more relieving than he knew. "It's stone dead. That signal's alive. Something's reaching out. Calling for help."

"So we're here to save an alien? That's a lot cooler than … Doctor don't!" Too late, the Doctor's hand touched the head's case, which finally set off the alarm that I'd been waiting for. "Museum full of expensive alien things, idiot!" I groaned, reaching over to smack him in the arm. "Ever think there'd be alarms?"

"You should've said something since you were thinking about it."

I opened my mouth for a full-on scolding when very human shouts erupted around us. Great, guards … with guns. Being the first time someone had ever pointed a weapon at me, I shrank back, closer to the Doctor, before realizing what I was doing. Close enough to almost smell his jacket.

He took a half step forward, though, putting himself in front of the two of us.

Big, freaking idiot from outer space.

"If someone's collecting aliens, that makes you Exhibit A," Rose murmured, looking a bit calmer than me, but still quite worried.

A grim realization dawned. Who knew what would happen if the people who built the museum realized that the Doctor happened to be an alien? I'd seen too many sci-fi movies, so I had a general idea what that would entail.

I didn't even consider what they'd do with my brain if they somehow learned of my abilities. I just knew they couldn't get to the Doctor. I wouldn't let them.


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N: OMG, what's up with my writing? I've never written this fast EVER! Here's yet another chapter! I don't know if this is as full of detail as it should be, but I wanted to get this out before I had to work tonight. Thankfully, I'm looking forward to the next part and so I'll take a little more time in writing it. **

**Thank you so much to MasterDude … something or other. I forgot your numbers, sorry! And also AxidentlGoddess. Your recent reviews made me smile and help me get even more speed and inspiration into my writing! **

**As usual, let me know if you have any questions. And I love reviews! Thanks!**

Dalek

Part 2

"Does this happen a lot with you?" I hissed as the guards marched us down another hallway. They hadn't shot us yet, so some of the fear had turned to stupid humor. A bit immature, but I couldn't do anything else and if I stopped, I felt that I'd feel even more scared, if that were possible.

The Doctor snorted and ignored me.

Rose, however, bumped shoulders. "With him, it's never a quiet day on the beach. Or in the underground horde, anyway."

I made a face. "I'm beginning to get that impression." Any more talking seemed ridiculous, so I just retreated into myself. They had my bag, so I couldn't go through the ritual of seeing what I had that could help. Taking inventory of my random things always distracted me enough to where I could calm down.

Without it, I pretty much became a dead weight. I couldn't do anything to help that wouldn't get us into more trouble than we already were. Would that make the Doctor regret bringing me along in the first place?

How would I even get the Doctor out of trouble if he began acting too … alien?

A voice drifted out of an open door a ways down the hall. "… and this is the last. Paid eight-hundred thousand dollars for it." His voice sounded British, which either came as a relief or a thorn in my side. I always ran into people with accents.

"What does it do?" There we go. A proper American voice at last. Glancing at the man the voice belonged to when we entered, however, I quickly changed my mind. He almost literally reeked of greed, ambition, and other ugly emotions that made me shudder before I could control myself.

Another man, closer to my age and probably the British one, pointed at something in his hand. "Well, you see the tubes on the side? It must be to channel something. I think maybe fuel."

The Doctor scoffed, which threw the guy's opinion out the window in my opinion. He seemed the kind to revel in correcting people when they made mistakes. "I really wouldn't hold it like that," he snorted with a twisted little smirk. Making others feel like complete morons also appeared to be one of his hobbies.

Nasty Man glared at the Doctor. "Shut it."

I had to plaster a hand over my mouth to keep a laugh from ruining the moment. Finally someone besides myself to throw those words back at him!

The look the Doctor tossed my way warned me not to say anything. I didn't, but it felt like the most difficult thing I had to do in my life. "Really, though, that's wrong."

The younger man jerked and backed up a step. Alarm bled through him in such a spike that I had to thicken my shields just to deal with everyone's emotions at one in such a small room. "Is it dangerous?"

"No, it just looks silly." With no warning, the Doctor reached for whatever the man held. It sent a ripple effect of guns clicking around us. He froze, but kept his palm outstretched. Idiot Doctor bent on proving that everyone else was wrong. After a while, the stuffy man handed the device over.

A pulse of excitement escaped from the small crack I'd felt in his barriers. I stared more at his face than what he held, my heart racing just the tiniest bit. What could have caused that kind of change in him? What did he actually ….

"You just need to be …." With fingers that didn't even tremble, the Doctor brushed the device with just the faintest of touches. A pure, sweet note unlike anything I'd ever heard filled the air. "… delicate." More notes followed the first, a pure smile appearing as he did so. Something dreamy, like he remembered something from long ago.

I couldn't hold back a grin of my own, though it mostly came from feeling the brief moment of joy from him. "Um … may I try?" I hardly dared breathe more life into my words. As if anything louder would break the spell that had fallen over us. "I won't break it, I promise."

The Doctor's eyes met mine in surprise. Only a few seconds passed before he carefully placed the thing in my hand. His skin brushed mine for a few moments, sending a shiver up and down my arms. "Remember, you have to …."

Transfixed by the small little thing in my hand, I held my fingers as still as I could manage. They mirrored the Doctor's movements, remaining almost still as I grazed the surface. Two harmonious notes eased out of it and my face felt like it had split wide open. I hadn't felt so childish in a long time. Since before my migraines, anyway.

Our eyes met again and the Doctor's face had softened so much that he didn't seem to be the same man. Surprise radiated from his eyes in such a potent wave that it tingled in my mouth like an exclamation point I could taste. Sharp, yet thrilling at the same time.

Perhaps in a way that the Doctor didn't realize, the barrier over that armor crack weakened some more, letting me take in everything he felt at the moment. Surprise, of course. A fascination and wonder like rediscovering an old memory. Then a bittersweet bite that soured everything. An old memory he didn't want to relive?

And in that one moment of happiness, Nasty Man destroyed it into a million pieces. He snatched it out of my hand and began trying himself. The sounds were … horrific and I winced in pity for the device.

"It's a musical instrument," the man murmured as he tried to get the thing to work.

"And a long way from home." The Doctor flinched as even more sour notes came out. "I did say delicate. It reacts to the smallest fingerprint. It needs precision." His eyes drifted my way with a look so intense that I stuffed my hands in my pockets and glanced away before I could make an embarrassment of myself. Eventually the man made a single note. "Very good. Quite the expert."

Somehow, I very much doubted that he meant any of that.

The man huffed. "As are you." Then he casually tossed the thing onto the floor. The floor! "Who exactly are you people?"

"I'm the Doctor. Who are you?"

The way the man scoffed gave me the shivers. "Like you don't know. We're hidden away with the most valuable collection of extra-terrestrial artefacts in the world, and you just stumbled in by mistake."

"Pretty much sums me up, yeah."

I could have smacked his shiny bald head again for being that annoying. One does _not_ antagonize the person who has you as his prisoner!

The man's frown deepened. "The question is: how did you get in? Fifty-three floors down and with your two little … cat burglar accomplices. You, Doctor, are quite the collector yourself. Both of them are quite pretty."

Eww. I couldn't overcome my disgust fast enough.

"One of them is going to smack you if you day that again," Rose retorted, producing a better glare than I could have managed at the moment.

"Ha. She's English, too! Hey, little Lord Fauntleroy. Got you a girlfriend."

Oh for crying out loud, did this guy actually exist? I shuffled backward, away from the ugly feelings that oozed from every pore. My foot hit something, tearing my gaze away. The musical device. Nibbling on my lip, I tossed and turned an idea over in my head. Would I be able to pull it off?

I'd missed part of a conversation. Now the Doctor had started to get angry. Or he'd been angry and began showing it. "So you're just about an expert in everything except the things in your museum. Anything you don't understand, you lock up."

"And you claim greater knowledge?"

"I don't need to make claims. I know how good I am."

"And yet, I captured you. Right next to the Cage. What were you doing down there?" The two had gotten so close, only a few inches separated them. The measly human facing down a Time Lord.

"You tell me."

"That cage contains my one living specimen."

Living? My head snapped up as the mood around the Doctor darkened. Keeping alien relics locked up irritated him. Having a living alien kept basically a prisoner? I could almost see a thunderstorm brewing behind his eyes.

"And what's that?"

"Like you don't know."

I had to stop them.

"Show me."

"You want to see it?"

"Okay, that's enough!" My firm tone ended in an indignant squeak as I tripped over the laces of my shoes. It forced the Doctor to turn around and brace me for only a second, but that second of contact broke the tension. "Jeez, turn down the testosterone for once! None of it is helping."

"Well at least your other lady's an American," Nasty Man humphed.

I ducked down to re-tie my shoe before I had to stare at those beady eyes one moment longer.

"Goddard, inform the Cage we're heading down. You, English. Look after the girl. Go and canoodle or spoon or whatever it is you British do. And you, Doctor with no name, come and see my pet."

"Not without me he's not," I grouched, finally done with those obnoxious ties. Tucking my hands into my coat, I stood and frowned at the Doctor, an objection on his face. "I _have_ been researching aliens, you know." Well, technically, I'd been searching for him, but I could stretch the truth well enough.

The Nasty Man—whose name I'd somehow missed—sighed like I'd asked for a miracle. "Fine. The girl comes too."

"Be careful," Rose whispered before the guards all but pushed us out the door.

_No duh, blondie._

In front of a massive vault door, the Doctor managed to pull me over while the man—Statten, as I'd been told—conferred with some of his scientists. "What do you think you're doing? You don't know a thing about aliens and whatever they have in there could be dangerous." He didn't feel angry … sort of. More like intense.

"If it's dangerous, then why are _you_ going in there?" I hissed, crossing my arms. A defense against whatever he thought to lob my way. "It would be just as dangerous for you if you're right."

"I'll be fine."

"Are you sure about that? Can you promise me without lying that you'd go in there and be perfectly fine if something goes wrong?"

The Doctor opened his mouth as if to give me his usual positive answer, but nothing came out. A bit of uncertainty broke the unwavering confidence he'd been portraying. Doubt and no small amount of annoyance. After a few seconds, he sighed and ran a hand over his head. "All right, you can come in, but if anything goes wrong you do exactly what I say. Understand? _Exactly_ what I say."

I nodded and didn't even try a grin of victory. "Of course. Don't get yourself killed, though." That protective streak that had started to get stronger ever since I'd returned to the TARDIS came back full force. If he did something that got him injured instead of me, I'd … well … I'd hurt him once he got better, at the very least.

"Bloody stubborn American," he muttered, but there didn't seem to be his usual sting.

"We've tried everything, Doctor," came Statten's dreaded voice, cutting into our little mini-argument. "The creature has shielded itself, but there's definite signs of life inside."

The little pinch of confusion appeared between the Doctor's eyes. One that appeared when he felt genuinely curious. "Inside? Inside what?"

One of the scientists joined us. "I've had to take the power down, sir. The Metaltron is resting."

"Metaltron?" Even though he didn't know who or what lay inside the vault thing, the Doctor couldn't resist making fun of a ridiculous name.

The self-satisfied grin on Statten's face just begged to be scrubbed off. "Thought of it myself. Good, isn't it? Although I'd much prefer to find out its real name."

"You didn't think of treating it nice and just _asking_, now did you?" I grumbled. Of course a guy like Statten wouldn't think of that. He'd just see another thing, not a being that could be a friend, or even sentient.

"And what good would that have accomplished?" Statten sneered. "It's alien, I found it, and so I can do what I please."

My jaw felt ready to split in two from how hard I clenched it. It could have been some reaction to his overall nastiness or just my own indignation, but I wouldn't have minded giving _him_ a punch in the head.

"Uh, put these on." The scientist handed out two pairs of gauntlets. Metal and ugly. "The last guy that touched it burst into flames."

The Doctor took a step backwards as he snorted. His arm grazed me. A silent warning that I felt half-tempted to ignore. "Then we won't touch it."

The door opened with a weighty groan. My mouth and throat dried up instantly at the darkness inside. "Go ahead you two," smirked the most arrogant, filthy man in the universe. "Impress me."

Right. Forcing my disobedient legs to move forward, I stepped inside after the Doctor.

My heart plummeted to the end of the universe when the door shut with a loud clang.


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N: Hello again folks! I didn't get far in the episode's story line as I'd hoped. The chapter simply took a life of its own and dragged me along with it. So there's a lot more dialogue in here that's very charged and I'm still not sure if I got it right. Please let me know if I made it too cheesy or not logical in any sense. I wanted to get the full impact of Jessica seeing the Doctor's dark side for the first time and how she'd react to it. **

**As always, thank you for your reviews and opinions. They really help me figure out what I'm doing right or wrong so I can make following chapters even better for you.**

Dalek

Part 3

"So we're locked in a vault with an alien who might have a serious grudge against humans. Great. Just peachy." I had to press my lips together until they hurt to keep the adrenaline from making me even more of an idiot. My heart had never pounded so fast or so hard. I'd clamped down on my barriers until I couldn't sense anything, too afraid of what I'd feel in that room.

Out of the gloom, the Doctor's hand actually reached out and took one of mine. "If something had wanted us dead, I think it would've tried to kill us already." He flashed a smile that only came across as half-real.

Ah well, the effort made up for it. That and I could hardly tear my mind off of how his hand felt around mine.

More importantly: _why_ did he take my hand in the first place? With his thick armored walls once more wrapped around himself, I couldn't tell if he knew I needed the comfort or if he needed it instead.

The last thought scared me more than anything else.

What could the Doctor possibly be worried or afraid of?

Just as I entertained the notion of giving said hand a squeeze, it vanished as the Doctor took a few steps towards the other end. A looming shadow of a cage filled it, but I couldn't see inside. "Look, I'm sorry about this. Mister Van Statten might think he's clever, but never mind him. I've come to help. Well," he added with a head gesture my way. "We've come to help. I'm the Doctor and this is Jessica Gale."

"Thanks for remembering," I muttered, skittering to join him, though I let him remain in front of me. _Snap out of snarky mode, missy._ Taking a deep breath, I lowered my barriers. Not much. Just enough to try and project our good intentions towards whoever Statten had imprisoned. "We don't mean any harm, really. Maybe we can …."

"Doc … tor?"

The metallic, almost groggy sent chills along my skin, but it affected the Doctor far worse. He froze, dread exploding from him in a wave so strong it made my own gut clench. Perhaps even a little bit of fear? No, I had to be imagining that. Nothing could scare the Doctor … could it?

"Impossible." I'd never heard the Doctor so quieted, full of a dread that screamed at me to _run_.

"Doctor, what's going on?" My words could've fallen on deaf ears. I could barely hear myself over the chaos and rage that threatened to drown me.

"_The_ Doctor?" Rising in volume and strength, the alien's robotic-like voice carried every ounce of anger and … hate that I felt burning my skin. Such hate!

With a bang, the lights blazed to life, revealing some sort of robot that came up to my chest wrapped in chains.

The hate smacked into me with such purity that I stumbled backwards. Pressing my hands against my head, I struggled to get control of my barriers again. Almost as impossible as swimming upriver against a rampaging current.

The alien's voice screeched around me. "Exterminate! Exterminate!"

I found myself being hauled towards the door. Yes, the Doctor was definitely afraid. It bled through the contact whether I wanted to know or not. With his arm around my shoulders shoving me towards the corner, I couldn't exactly fight him.

His fists pounded on the door. "Let us out!" No, the Doctor didn't sound like himself. I didn't have to feel the strength of his terror to know that he'd become truly afraid.

Gaining enough of a mental foothold, I tried to move past him to get at the other side of the door. My efforts were thwarted as the Doctor shoved me back. "I can reach the …."

"No!" The Doctor yelled in frustration as the door refused to budge. "I'm not letting them take you again, Em."

"What?"

The Doctor's head jerked my way like I'd stabbed a white-hot poker in him.

"Exterminate!"

Swearing, the Doctor shoved us both into the corner, placing himself between me and the creature. "I'm sorry." The apology came out so quietly I would've missed it if I hadn't seen his lips move.

Nothing happened.

No explosions, no guns. Nothing but an odd clicking sound.

For a moment, the Doctor stood frozen, as if he couldn't believe it himself. It lasted long enough for me to become very aware of how fiercely he'd pressed me into the wall. How very warm he felt. The smell coming off of his jacket.

The Doctor spun around, the fear burning away in surprise and … something I couldn't make out due to my addled brain. "It's not working." Even he didn't sound like he believed our good luck. As the machine's eyestalk glanced down at a twitching arm, the Doctor barked a laugh. "Fantastic! Oh, fantastic! Powerless! Look at you, the great space dustbin! How does it feel?"

His sudden change in behavior sent all of my alarm bells clanging. I shoved every warm and fuzzy thoughts I had about him to the side, a frown working its way to my face. It could've just been the adrenaline leaving his system, but I never thought he'd gloat like that.

"Keep back!" The machine warned as the Doctor moved closer. The thing backed up as far as the chains would let it. Yes, I could still feel its hate, but I could feel its fear growing stronger than that.

That seemed to egg the Doctor on and he lunged close enough to where his face came inches from the eyestalk. "What for? What're you going to do to me? If you can't kill, what are you good for, Dalek? What's the point of you? You're nothing." Such a manic glee had overcome him that I didn't even think I looked at the same Doctor anymore.

I took several steps closer, worried more about the Doctor than the machine he'd called a Dalek. The crack I'd started focusing on blazed with such hatred and resentment that it felt like a sucker punch to my senses. For the first time since he'd found me in the bathroom, I began to fear him. What he might do with such blind rage running through him.

"So what the hell are you're here for?" I seemed to have vanished from the Doctor's mind as he all but pranced in front of the Dalek.

"I am … waiting for orders."

"What does that mean?"

"I am a soldier. I was bred to receive orders."

The Doctor's smirk chilled me. "Well you're never going to get any. Not ever."

"I demand orders!" The Dalek screeched, the lights on its head flaring bright.

Shifting my focus between the two of them strained my abilities. From the Doctor's rage and soul-devouring hurt to the Dalek's confusion and fear of a lack of purpose. My need to calm the Time Lord and a desire to save the Dalek held me in one spot. I couldn't side against the Doctor when I didn't know the full story, could I?

"They're never going to come!" The Doctor shouted, gestures becoming grand and erratic. "Your race is dead! You burnt, all of you. Ten million ships on fire. The entire Dalek race wiped out in one second."

That's when the name finally clicked. Dalek. The race that had fought the Time Lords. A war in which the Doctor's people had lost. He'd failed to mention that the Daleks had been destroyed as well. The pity I'd had for the Doctor split in two until both the Dalek and the Doctor demanded my defense. I pulled at my hair as the indecision tore at me.

"You lie!"

The satisfaction coming from the Doctor added to my dread. "I watched it happen. I _made_ it happen." Less of a crowing victory, but the primal satisfaction still darkened every part of him.

The Dalek's spike of loss … of loneliness made my throat clench. "You … destroyed us?" Compared to the Doctor's the Dalek's fire had almost completely been smothered.

"I had no choice?"

How could the Doctor not have a choice?

Silence fell for a bit in which I dared to take a few steps closer, though neither of them paid attention.

"And what of the Time Lords?"

The sharp, burning grief that blossomed from the Doctor sent my senses spinning once again and tears burned. He became still. Not even the air seemed to move around him. "Dead. They burnt with you." What burned inside him roughened his voice past anything I'd heard to date. "The end of the last great Time War. Everyone lost."

I couldn't hold myself back any longer. The Doctor might hate me for reacting later, but I dismissed that thought. I stood beside him and put a hand on his arm. I couldn't make myself say anything before I fell under the gaze of eyes that burned like a dead sun. If I did, he'd hear the tears I tried so hard to keep out of sight. He'd caused the Daleks to burn, but his people were destroyed at the same time. I'd had no right to ask him about it the other night. I didn't think I ever would.

_Don't._ Those eyes warned. He didn't want any pity or sympathy. To him, he deserved to suffer knowing that.

Well, I never listened to him anyway. I let him feel everything whether he wanted to or not.

"And the coward survived."

The change in the Doctor was more vicious than ever before. Like everything had become swallowed up in the black hole of a hatred he'd born for who knew how long. Stiffening, the Doctor jerked away from me, a fury boiling in his eyes. "Oh, and I caught your little signal. Help me," he mocked, the malice souring his voice beyond recognition. "Poor little thing. But there's no one else coming 'cause there's no one else left."

_He's going to kill it._ The thought came as swift as that mood change. _He's going to kill the Dalek._

Heedless or uncaring of the Doctor's fury, the Dalek's eyestalk drooped and such a despair came over it that I almost drowned myself. "I am alone in the universe."

"Yep." Never had the Doctor sounded so viciously smug. Not even when he became all snarky with me.

"So are you." An odd, faint hope glimmered deep inside the Dalek. "We are the same."

My breath caught as the tension snapped inside the room with the abruptness of a clap of thunder. I didn't know what happened during that war, but even I knew that comparing itself to the Doctor was the worst mistake that Dalek could've made. I had to do something _now_.

His face contorted into one of disgust. "We're not the same! I'm not …."

"Yes you are, Doctor!" Before I could consider the wisdom of it, I darted to place myself between them, keeping my back to the Dalek. It was in chains and its gun broken. And I must've had a death wish by supporting the creature, anyway.

"Stay out of this, Jessica," the Doctor all but snarled, only taken aback by a second or two. "You weren't there. You didn't see what they did to us."

"Probably no worse than what you did to them." Okay, now I had to come up with a way to calm him down and make sense in the process. My brain scrambled to come up with something that would reach him. "Can you honestly say that the Time Lords fought them with nicer means or that they didn't resort to cruel methods just like the Daleks?"

The death glare he leveled at me cause my whole soul to tremble. "Don't you dare compare the Time Lords to the Daleks. They're machines. They're born to hate anything that isn't one of them and destroy it." A brief pause and then he lunged across the room until he loomed over me. "You're empathy's making you blind. It'll kill you if you let it, just like all of its kind does."

I swallowed and matched him glare for glare. "You can't feel what I'm feeling, Doctor, because your own hatred blinds _you_. Okay, maybe some Daleks were cruel and evil, but I bet there were Time Lords who fell under the same category."

"Get … out … of the way."

"No." I pointed behind me at the Dalek. "This one's scared and lonely, Doctor. It just found out that it's the last one of its kind in the universe. Does that sound even remotely familiar?"

The Doctor's hands clenched into fists so tight, his knuckles paled. With maybe a foot between us, I had to buffer my senses towards him. So chaotic and tormented and unfocused that I knew I'd get swept away by them if I didn't get through to him somehow. A pressure grew around me until I could hardly breathe. I met the gaze of the furious Time Lord and refused to budge. I didn't care what he thought of me after this. I couldn't let him do something that he'd regret later on.

After a very long time, the Doctor stalked away. He faced the wall, fists still clenched at his sides, trembling enough to where I expected him to explode and hit anything nearby at any moment. "You know what? You have a point."

I knew better that to trust that calm, steady tone. I shifted, ready to run over and punch him again if I had to.

"We might just be the same 'cause I know what to do. I know what should happen." The Doctor spun on his heel, a dark, grim demeanor causing all of my fears to coalesce. "I know what you deserve, Dalek. Exterminate."

Before I could move to stop him, the Doctor's hand snapped to a lever nearby and yanked it downwards. Electricity roared to life in the air … followed by the Dalek's screams. A great big weight crushed my soul under its heel. I'd hoped I could reach him. He'd had no intentions to be merciful to someone who was suffering just as much as him.

"You … you son of a bitch!" I swore for one of the few times in my life and charged for that lever. The Dalek's pain crashed over me. I had to help it. Make it stop.

I didn't get there fast enough and the Doctor grabbed me by the shoulders, pushing me away. "It's what it deserves," he growled, daring me to come after him again.

Tears burst from me as another spike jabbed at my consciousness. Threatened to split my head wide open.

"Have pity!" The Dalek cried.

"Why should I? You _never_ did." Ghosts from long ago haunted the Doctor's face. "You took everything from me."

People burst into the room shouting furiously. I stood there, holding my head to try and keep it in one piece, the Dalek's pain and my own threatening to drive me over the edge. How could the Doctor be that uncaring? That cruel? "You're no better than a Dalek," I breathed as we were swarmed by guards.

I knew he heard me. A tiny jolt of hurt cracked his purely vengeful soul. He said nothing to me, though, as the guards started hauling him away. "You've got to destroy it, Statten!" Came his shout just before he was shoved out of sight.

One of the scientists managed where I'd failed and the electricity dissipated along with the Dalek's torment. I gasped and shuddered at the sudden absence. Its ghost still echoed around me, but I could think once more.

A hand grabbed my chin, forcing my eyes to snap open. "I knew you two were too good to be true," Statten sneered. "He's an alien and he said you were an … empath? Oh, I'll have such fun seeing what makes you tick. Take her to a room next to our good Doctor's. We need to get on top of this as soon as possible."

I glanced back at the Dalek as guards started dragging me out of the room. It stood as cold as ever, but I could feel it writhing in the torment the Doctor's revelation had caused. Pity for it suddenly became dull and muted next to the realization that a man who studied and collected bits and pieces of aliens knew what the Doctor was. What I could do.

Out of the fire and into the inferno.


	18. Chapter 18

**A/N: I'll admit, this is a lot shorter than I thought it would be. However, in my defense, there's going to be a lot of AU of the events that come after, starting with Jessica's conversation with the Dalek and I need time to think about that one. Plus the ending sounds good where it is, anyway, otherwise there'd be too much to cram into one chapter. I don't want to explode anyone's heads with trying to keep track, after all. :D **

**So a big thank you to all my reviewers and new faves! It means a lot when I check my e-mail and see all those lovely notifications. **

**Plus, if you have theories about a certain scene in here, I'd love to hear them if only to give an evil giggle and make you wait. Lol.**

**It's New Year's Eve, so have a great new year, everyone!**

Dalek

Part Four

They stripped me down to my bra and underwear. Bag, shoes, even my Vortex Manipulator, gone. No one spoke to me. Not directly. Quiet, hushed conversations involving too many big science words for me to make any sense of. They upturned my bag, though and I winced, expecting an avalanche of embarrassing odds and ends.

Nothing came out. I'd brought an empty bag with me.

Even though they strapped me to a chair and then left me, I couldn't hold back a brief smile. The TARDIS had … well … "TARDIS'ed" the inside. Clever girl. Something I desperately wished I could be at the moment.

But what could a simple girl do strapped to a chair almost butt naked and without any smarts whatsoever? I didn't dare open up my barriers enough to try and find the Doctor. That felt like it would require a lot of practice beforehand. Not to mention how many machines Statten had near me ready to register such an attempt.

The Doctor. Heavens knew what Statten planned to do with him. Guilt snagged in my gut. I had probably betrayed him in the worst way that I knew of. Accuse him of being just like a Dalek? What in the world had gotten into me? I had no right—again—of making judgments on him when I didn't even know what had driven him to that mental state to begin with.

I'd probably bought myself a one-way ticket back home when we escaped.

_If_ we escaped.

[_…Jessica Gale! Open up at once and talk to me!_]

I gasped, my head snapping until I almost got whiplash. The Doctor's voice almost screamed inside my mind, stabbing through my barriers with the grace of a tire through a window. Groaning, I squeezed my eyes shut. Right. The Doctor had telepathy. I'd forgotten about that.

[_Dammit, American …._]

[_Ouch! All right, already! That freaking hurt!_] I had no idea how good my thoughts came across, since I'd only tried to talk to him with my mind the one time in the bathroom. Just pictured my own voice in my head and sent it barreling through the whole he'd made in the other direction. [_You could've knocked, you know._]

[_I _did_ and all you did was ignore me._] The Doctor's mind came across so clear I almost turned my head to look for him.

[_That's because I didn't want Statten or his fancy machines to find out anything,_] I grumbled, eyeing said instruments on the other wall. Looking for any sign of them activating due to our … mental phone call.

I couldn't let him know that if I sensed any more of that turmoil before I became sure of my control again, I'd lose it. There were more important things to worry about.

[_He hasn't hurt you, has he?_]

I sighed, any lingering irritation for him shriveling up and blowing away in the wake of the guilt that tainted his words. [_No. What about you?_]

Even his mind contained his derisive snort. [_Never mind me._]

[_Doctor, you're the one-hundred percent alien here, not me. I'd think that monster would be practically drooling to get his grubby little hands on you._] I paused, stunned at the wildcat fierceness that had started to rise at the thought. Yes, I'd agreed with the TARDIS to help the Doctor, but this felt like protectiveness on a whole different level.

Thankfully, the Doctor didn't seem to be picking up on that, keeping the feel of his mental touch light. Almost not noticeable. [_Statten's not the problem. That Dalek is._]

Stubborn, stubborn man. [_Don't, Doctor. Let's not get into a debate when Mr. Rich Guy's probably going to start dissecting both of us pretty soon._] I doubted I even had the mental strength to handle that conversation in the best of times. I didn't know enough and the Doctor would never explain himself to me.

Silence for almost a minute. [_Fine, but at some point that Dalek is going to escape just like any prisoner would. I want you as far away from it as possible._]

[_Even if I'd agree to leave you behind, which I absolutely will not, I don't think I'm going anywhere soon._] He wouldn't shove me aside that easily. He'd probably do something stupid and end up getting hurt or some such idiocy. [_I'm kind of strapped to a chair._]

Although I tried to keep that image out of my thoughts, the Doctor's mind reached out and found it regardless. Even through that tiny mental peephole, I could feel his anger spike again coupled by a guilt that rivaled what I'd seen in the vault. [_Don't fight him if he gets to you first. Don't give him any reason to …._]

I froze as the door handle turned with a loud click. [_He's here, I think._] My mental voice had shrunk to a mere breath as a couple scientists stepped inside. A desert bloomed inside my mouth, drying it to dust instantly. I could hardly breathe as fear began working its way from the back of my consciousness. No way would I admit it to the Doctor. To add more to whatever he already carried with him.

[_You'll be all right, Jessica. You handled all the emotions of London on your own for years. One man should be …._]

The door shut. No sign of Nasty Man. [_He's not here. Just some scientists._] A dreaded certainty settled in the pit of my stomach like a sack of lead. [_He's coming to you._]

One of the scientists, a woman with crazy brown hair barely contained by a hair tie, turned and actually smiled at me. "Well now, look at you. You _are_ young." Just my luck, she turned out to have an English accent as well.

I frowned, the goodwill I felt radiating from her clashing with what I expected. Had to be a tactic to get me to relax. Well, tough luck with that. [_Doctor, are you sure you're going to be okay? You might be a Time Lord, but you're not invincible._] I could care less how many brain tests they performed on me. If they even got it into their heads to dissect the Doctor ….

[Yes._ For once, just do as you're told and get yourself out as soon as …._] With a snap, the Doctor's voice cut off, sending my mind reeling yet again.

"Lake, we're not supposed to talk to the subject." Grumbled the other scientist. "Mr. Von Statten wants us to measure her brain activity. Anything more and we get into trouble."

Lake rolled her eyes. "Can you believe this man? Rules, rules, rules. He's almost obsessed about getting every one of them right." A hand rooted around in her lab-coat pocket. "You won't believe what I have to do to put up with him."

"Stop it, Lake, before …." He frowned as Lake took something out of her pocket and held it up to his eye level. "What is it now?"

"Just a present," came Lake's too-sweet reply. "Don't worry, this won't kill you. I'd have two very upset people come hunting me down otherwise." Opening her fist, she blew some powder into her coworker's face, the later collapsing onto the floor in a heap.

I gaped at her. Nothing came from her as menacing or just plain … bad. In actuality, the mischievous, kind-hearted emotions I sensed around her kind of made me like her already.

"Ah, ah, ah. No questions," she jumped in before anything could make it out of my mouth. "I'm helping you escape, but I can't have you remembering my face too soon." Another fist-full of something emerged, but she didn't send it my way. "I know you'll want to help him, Jess, but if you don't go down to that Dalek right now, you won't be able to save the Doctor."

More than the shock that someone might actually want to save me, my worry for the Doctor just rose a hundred fold. "'Save the Doctor'? From what?"

The grim darkening of her eyes almost made me squirm. "The only person the Doctor ever needs saving from: himself. See you in a few years, sweetie." Her palm opened and she blew something in my direction ….

The next thing I knew, my feet were pounding away down a narrow hallway with all my clothes and things back in their places. Just returning to consciousness made me stumble and almost fall. How long had it been? Well, only one person could help me with that one.

[_Uh … Doctor?_]

Nothing.

Either I'd gone too far away for my abilities to sense him, or he purposefully ignored me. I grunted in annoyance. [_If you can hear me, someone—I can't remember who—let me out. I'm going to the Dalek._] Well, that felt too much like an answering machine for my comfort.

I took a moment to glance around, get my bearings. A sign nearby made me shake my head. Not only had I managed to get all my things back, I'd gone several stories lower. Down to the level of the Dalek vault. Whatever the woman used, it had one heck of a kick.

Alarms blared and red lights flared to life around me. Gunfire ricocheted a few corridors down and I knew beyond a doubt that the Dalek had escaped. Just like the Doctor had warned. Then again, I'd escaped as well, so that didn't count against the Dalek's character, in my opinion.

_Time to show some backbone._

Heavy, thumping boots around a corner drew me back to the present. Running from a Dalek they might be, but I wouldn't put it past the soldiers to scoop me up along the way just because they felt like it. I stepped into the nearest unlocked room, shutting the door just as said group of guys with guns barreled past. A flash of blonde hair reassured me that they were taking Rose with them.

Good. I wouldn't have to worry about handling anyone's emotions but the Dalek's. That would be a job in and of itself.

Squeezing my eyes shut, I waited until the hallway had fallen silent once more before sticking my head out again. "Come on. No more procrastinating," I muttered, setting off at a jog. I had no plan on how to handle a Dalek. No intention of letting it hurt anyone either. Definitely not going to let it and the Doctor get close to each other.

I rounded a corner just as the power flickered and died several times. The alternating lights glared off of bright copper-gold metallic armor. The Dalek faced a console and didn't seem aware of my presence. Too busy focused on what it was doing. Then the power died for several seconds before whatever generators the building had came online.

"The Daleks survive in me!" Screeched the Dalek as its previously inactive weapon whined to life.


	19. Chapter 19

**A/N: And here it is, a couple days late, but much better for having taken so long. I had a fun time on New Years, so I didn't write anything then. Sorry about that! The last few days have been crazy at work because of the holiday, too, so there went all of my energy for anything else. .**

**So glad that you're all enjoying this! This chapter's a bit shorter because I had trouble coming up with dialogue that was Dalek-esque enough to sound real. . Still not sure if I succeeded. I might have another chapter up by tonight as a bonus to you all and since I'm thinking that the next chapter might be the last in "Dalek." I didn't realize I could write this much inside an episode. I hope this hasn't been dragging along for you all. If so, please let me know so I can make adjustments in future episodes. **

**With that out of the way, enjoy the second to the last part of "Dalek!" **

Dalek

Part Five

I flinched and dove to the floor as the Dalek fired wildly around the room. Never been near a gun in my life and my first time happened to belong to an alien that didn't seem to have been harmed by the bullets thrown at it. Great going, Jessica.

After an indefinite amount of time, its wild firing ceased. I still didn't move in case it changed its mind.

"The human will stand!"

So much for hoping it didn't notice me.

Its hatred and relief at finding a purpose smacked at me as I edged around the desk. It _needed_ something to hate. Hopefully that was something I could reverse before the Doctor realized where I'd disappeared to. "Sorry. I didn't mean to sneak up on you," I offered, raising my hands a little ways away from my body. If it thought I had a weapon …. "Well, actually, I did, but only because I didn't want you to shoot me right away."

"You were with the Doctor, an enemy of the Daleks." Its gun twitched as the eyestalk flicked up and down. Just like it was trying to size me up.

"In my defense, I didn't know about Daleks until last night …."

"You are the Doctor's associate!" And of course it didn't listen to a word I said. "You know where the Doctor is hiding. Tell me or you will die."

I crossed my arms even as my mouth and throat dried up. "Wrong. Just because I travel with him doesn't mean that I know where he is. Even if I did, I wouldn't tell you."

"You _will_ tell me!"

"Nope." The rage that built up in the Dalek almost choked me. "Because I know you'd kill him if he didn't kill you first."

"The Doctor does not use weapons. I am fully restored! The Daleks will win the War when I kill …."

"Just stop for a second," I snapped, taking a couple steps forward. When the arm jerked my way, I froze again. Didn't want to push it too much. "What was that about you and the Doctor being the same? You two are the last of your kind in the universe! Doesn't that mean you both loose?"

There were a few seconds where the Dalek said nothing. Some of the hate wavered, its existence put into question. "You came from the surface?" Not as much hate and fury this time.

It couldn't know about the TARDIS. "Well, sort of."

"Then you will take me to the surface!"

"Um … why would I want to do that?"

"Do not ask questions!" Okay, the thing had a short fuse. "You know the path to the surface. The Doctor would not harm one of his companions. They will not attack or you will die."

"Hold your fire! We have a civilian blocking the view of the target."

Even with the Dalek's gun tracking my every movement, I heaved a sigh of relief as the dreaded bullets never came. I'd felt the soldiers two stories down. Their fear scraping along my nerves. If they'd had itchy trigger fingers—they were American private security, after all—I would've been shot. No ifs ands or buts about it.

According to the Dalek, I served it better as a human shield than as a means to escape.

Its hate still battered at me, but I countered with the pity and … compassion, I had to guess … that I thought I'd only keep in reserve for the Doctor. Truth be told, I couldn't sense if I made a difference or not.

"I will speak only to the Doctor."

"_You had to go and get yourself in trouble, didn't you?"_ I knew better than to believe that mildly scolding take to the Doctor's voice. Though I couldn't sense him, the anger hidden beneath that sarcasm pretty much smacked me in the face.

It didn't make me feel guilty enough to apologize, though. "Oh don't worry about me. I had to try and help." There had to be a camera somewhere, but I didn't dare take my eyes from the Dalek. It didn't like being surrounded. The need to kill burned inside it, inside me from sensing it. I did my best to dampen it without having the Dalek notice.

"_You're not helping, Jessica. You're just getting in the way. Again."_

"No, I'm trying to save the last Dalek and the last Time Lord from themselves."

"Silence! The human forces will let us pass or the female dies!"

Nice way to undermine my determination, Dalek.

"_Go ahead. It'll spare me the trouble of bringing her home,"_ the Doctor snorted. _"And while you do that, every man down there's going to start shooting."_

The Dalek's confusion left it floundering for almost a few seconds. "She is your associate! I have been searching and history has shown that the Doctor will do anything to keep his associates alive."

"_Find anything on your friends yet?"_

"I … have scanned your satellites and telescopes." There, the Dalek's fierce determination to cling to the belief that its people were still alive took a significant waver.

The Doctor's victorious smirk glowed in the room. _"And?"_

"Nothing. Where shall I get my orders now?"

My heart actually twisted at the lost and stranded tones that made it through to the Dalek's monotone voice. I could almost feel it like it was my own. Before I even thought about it much, I reached out and touched its casing. Just for a second or two. Feeling it come through so fresh stung at me almost more than the Doctor's acceptance of it. At least the Time Lord had some time to come to terms with it. The Dalek still struggled with accepting that.

The eyestalk actually turned my way. My skin prickled with the feeling that something stared at me behind it.

"_No one. You're just a soldier without commands."_

One more scramble for that old rage. It was something safe. Something the Dalek knew by heart. "Then I shall follow the Primary Order. The Dalek instinct to destroy. To conquer."

"Stop it, both of you!" I could feel the Doctor's biting reply coming like thunder rolling in from the distance. If I let them keep going, it would grow even stronger and might make the Dalek snap, ending in people dying. "Dalek—I don't even know if you have a name—why do you have to kill or destroy anything? Yes, your people are gone and I'm sorry. I can't imagine how I'd feel if the human race was wiped out."

"_Jessica …."_

"Shut up, Doctor. What's the point for the two of you to keep fighting when you _both_ lost? People are just going to get caught in the crossfire and die and you'll never win." A glint at the corner of my eye revealed a camera. Probably how the Doctor could see us. I glared at it as if I could see those brown eyes on the other side. "My point is that if you both keep going like this, you'll both end up dead and I don't want to see two xenocides in one day."

"_They're Daleks, Jessica, they can't …."_

"The Daleks must destroy …."

"Why?" This time I turned my glare onto the Dalek. The Doctor, I knew, could be reasoned with if I talked to him long enough. I had no idea what would get through to a Dalek who knew nothing else. "Even if you manage to kill the Doctor, what good would that do? It wouldn't mean a thing. Just give it up already before you send both your races into extinction."

I could feel the Dalek trying to grasp for any sense of normalcy. For what it knew. It struggled to adapt. Like Daleks had never needed to adapt to such extremes before.

When silence had lasted for several seconds without either of them trying to yell at each other—or me, come to think of it—I threw my hands in the air. "Fine. Let us through and I'll take the Dalek to the upper level like it wants. You both have until then to calm down and think about if you really want to slaughter each other. Or act like grown-ups, either one."

"_Fine,"_ came the Doctor's ground-out reply. Like he had to force it through clenched teeth. _But if anything happens to her, Dalek, I'll make sure to rid the universe of your filth. You'll die before reaching daylight."_

If I survived, I was really in trouble. Definitely no more field trips for me. Ever.

"You … would make a good Dalek"

Not the best way to stay alive. It probably just pushed the Doctor past the breaking point.

As the soldiers made a careful retreat for the two of us to walk through, the Doctor's mind jabbed into my own. No knocking. No asking for permission or even a care that it hurt. [_Just what the _hell _are you doing? Daleks can't be trusted and I can't let it kill everyone! You don't know what …._]

[_You're over nine-hundred years old, Doctor. Eat some humble pie and start acting your age._] With all the strength that I could scramble together, I kicked the Doctor's voice out of my head and threw away the key. As the Dalek and I began climbing the next set of stairs, I fully expected the Doctor to smash through again. I didn't even have half the mental strength he did. It wouldn't be a problem.

Only a whisper of a thought reached me. [_We're sealing the vault at level forty-six. If you don't run now, you'll never make it._]

The urge to run, to escape before I became trapped and potentially die, itched in my legs. I clenched my jaw and forced myself to remain at the Dalek's pace. There might still be time for me to get through to one of them. If I could get the Dalek to change its mind, then they could unseal everything.

Maybe seeing a Dalek turn good would change the Doctor, too.

[_I'm sorry._]

I couldn't tell if that came from me or the Doctor.

Sirens began clanging around us, sending my fear into an overload that I could barely contain. The staircase ended at level forty-six. We turned a corner to find a thick wall descending, blocking the way to freedom. I didn't care if the Dalek had its gun on me. My feet carried me to the wall, but not fast enough that I could slide beneath it. It boomed shut just as I reached out to touch the cold metal.

Trapped.

The faint whine of a camera made me look into a corner. It focused directly on me. Had to have been the Doctor. The reassuring smile that I tried to work onto my face didn't feel like it worked. At least Rose and the soldiers managed to get out. The Doctor wouldn't have trapped us both

"The Doctor lied!" The rage that came rolling off of the Dalek made me snap back around to face it.

"Yep."

"Why? He has trapped you as well."

I took a deep breath and squashed the growing fear that I might get shot after all. Mentally I urged it to pause, to think. To feel something besides anger and hate for once. I could feel the potential for that just beneath the surface. "Well, he's doing what comes naturally to him; saving people." I couldn't blame the Doctor for trying. Though it more than anything deserved a big smack on his head for acting like a soldier.

"Yet he cannot save you." The Dalek's gun fixed in my direction. "You will die."

"I know and I'm sorry you feel that you have to kill me. That's my fault." I held my hands away from me, though I wanted to curl up and hide.

"Anything not Dalek must be destroyed!"

"Then do it! I won't stop you."

I squeezed my eyes shut as that dreaded whine filled the room.


	20. Chapter 20

**A/N: And here's the end of "Dalek!" Written while I watch the Christmas special once again. :D I hope this does it justice since I cried for real when I saw the episode for the first time. This is in an apology for missing two days due to the New Year. I haven't written a chapter in a day this long since I started my binge writing. **

**Have fun. Next up, a filler chapter of my own invention. :D**

Dalek

Part Six

The dreaded pain and resultant death never happened.

In the silence, I hardly dared to breathe, but I definitely hadn't died. I peeled my eyes open and glanced around. A scorch mark in the wall near my head told me where the shot had gone.

It missed.

The Dalek had shot at me and missed. Granted, it had hit near the camera, so everyone might think I'd died, but a miss nonetheless. The Dalek hadn't killed me. Why?

"So … are you going to kill me or not?"

"What have you done to me?"

I blinked, my fear dissolving into confusion. "Me? What are you talking about?"

The Dalek's gun twitched wildly, as did the eyestalk. Its fear became more prominent. "I have a weapon. I will kill. It is my purpose."

"But?"

"I … can't. I … feel … your fear."

I flinched as the gun went off two more times. However, I couldn't help but stare at the Dalek in surprise. Well, time to see if I could salvage the situation after all. "It's not a fear of you, if that's what you're wondering. I'm scared _for_ you."

"Daleks do not feel fear!"

"Maybe not, but you feel anyway. You heard what the Doctor said. I'm an empath, so don't tell me you can't feel anything because I can tell that you do." I took a step forward and the Dalek actually backed away from me. "There's nothing wrong with feeling things."

"I am contaminated!" The fear inside of it came out so strong that tears stung my eyes. "What have you done to me?"

Perhaps a gentler approach would be kinder? "It's called change, Dalek, and that's usually a good thing."

"Daleks do not change!"

"Well, maybe they should. Maybe by changing you can start your race again. Be the good guys or something. Is that so hard to imagine?"

The silence stretched for so long, I didn't know if it had actually heard me or started planning something that would end up with people dead. "Why do you do this?"

I somehow managed a smile. "I don't know, myself. If you let me talk to the Doctor, I'll be able to get you out of here." I couldn't guarantee that, of course. I still technically didn't know the Doctor that well. He could do something that I didn't expect, but I could care less. I wouldn't let him kill the Dalek and potentially some part of him that I didn't think he should loose.

The eyestalk rose to the camera. "Open the bulkhead or Jessica Gale dies!"

I whirled around to find the camera twitching again. "Dalek, that's not the way to get them to trust you," I muttered, but I felt pretty sure they could hear me. "Complete opposite, in fact."

"_You're alive!"_

The raw emotion that burst through a speaker brought a grin to my face for a few seconds. "No need to sound so relieved, Doctor. Don't I always show up where I don't belong?" Okay, I didn't do so well either, but who was counting?

"_I thought you were dead."_

"Snap out of it, Doctor, 'cause you're going to kill me once you hear my idea."

"_Well at least you're alive, right?"_ Oh, that's where Rose disappeared to.

"_What does it want?"_

"It's not what 'it' wants, Doctor." I pictured the Doctor's face in my mind and stared those eyes down as much as I could. "_I_ want you to open the doors. I know I haven't done anything to make you trust me like this, but the Dalek could've shot me but it didn't … _he_ didn't."

"_Jessica, I can't. If it gets to the surface, it's going to _kill_ everyone."_

"He could've killed me a lot easier than the whole of the human race! I'm still here, aren't I?"

We'd talked too long for the Dalek, apparently. "Open the bulkhead! I need to reach the surface!"

"_What for?!"_ The Doctor's yell echoed around the hallway. _"What could you possibly need besides your urge to kill anything that isn't a Dalek?"_

"I need to survive!"

"Doctor, please, trust me. I can handle this." I softened my voice. Challenging the Doctor wouldn't get me anywhere. "If you'll come down here and promise to hear me out, you'll understand, but you have to open the doors first."

Once again, I felt the Doctor's mind try and reach mine. This time, I let him in so he could feel exactly what I did. He didn't linger, barely touching my memories before withdrawing. I didn't even know if he paid any attention to the details.

Several long seconds later, the doors clank and began to rise.

"Why did you kill him?"

My own voice startled me out of the numb, zombie-like state I'd fallen into. The quiet of the upper hallway echoed with the trudge of my feet. I still felt close to losing everything in my stomach. Statten's pain still ricocheted around my mind. I could barely keep my thoughts together.

"He captured me. Tortured me …."

"So?" I wrapped my arms around myself. I didn't even have the energy to be angry at him. "You could've shown him mercy. Proven that you're better than him."

"Mercy is a weakness."

Shaking my head, I put myself in front of him, stopping the Dalek in his tracks. "No it's not. I tried to stop the Doctor from hurting you before. Yes, it didn't work so well, but you all but asked for mercy. What's the point of asking for that when you can't give any in return?"

I didn't want to even touch his emotions, but they called to me. Gave me the urge that if I just pushed a little more, everything would turn out all right. I could feel his need, his want to give into the new emotions that were growing inside him. Only the thinnest defense kept them from completely taking over.

The Dalek paused, his eyestalk flicking over me. "Why do you oppose the Doctor?"

"What?"

"You are his companion. I do not understand your contradiction of his orders."

"Do Daleks always follow orders?"

"Yes." The Dalek paused, as if thinking hard about something. "We are … we were bred to follow orders. Daleks did not fear, did not feel. Only hate."

I raised an eyebrow. "But aren't you a Dalek?"

"I … do not know what I am."

"Then what do you feel?"

Moments passed. The Dalek turned his gaze to the roof. His weapon thrummed to life and the ceiling exploded into pieces. I yelped and ducked out of the way, but nothing more came down.

Except for a bit of sunshine.

If I hadn't already been emotionally drained, the clicking of the Dalek's armor didn't send me as much into shock. It all moved, separating from the main part of the body with puffs of … something. When it opened, I completely forgot about any despair I felt towards him.

A Dalek seemed to be nothing more than an eye with flesh and tentacles. Nothing so dangerous after all.

Tears gathered and burned in my eyes. One managed to escape. How could something so helpless not receive anything but pity?

A wall of hate slammed into me with such force that I grunted, but that lasted for only a second. I stood, whirling around to face it and placing myself in front of the now exposed Dalek. Only one man in the universe would have so much hate burning inside of him.

The Doctor came barreling around the corner. With a gun.

Rose appeared a second later. "I'm sorry. I tried to stop him."

"Get out of the way."

I almost choked on my heart as the Doctor raised the gun. At me. Well, at the Dalek behind me, but I stood between them. "No," I breathed, firming my stance as much as my nervousness would allow.

My response didn't seem to register. "Jessica, get out of the way now!"

"Absolutely not!" I shouted right back. "I asked you to trust me. _This _isn't trusting me!"

The struggle with his emotions almost sent the air around him into a roiling chaotic mess. "I've got to do this, Jessica. I've got to end it. The Daleks destroyed my home. My people. I've got nothing left." With those words, I could sense even more of the tortured soul he'd started to show me inside the TARDIS … and it nearly broke my heart.

"Neither has the Dalek," my voice cracked even more than the Doctor's. "I know he killed Statten, but can you honestly say you wouldn't have done the same if you'd been tortured?"

The Doctor opened his mouth, no doubt with some sort of smart comeback. Nothing happened. The gun wavered, dipping some before he remembered that he even held it in the first place.

I couldn't stop until that gun was pointed at the floor or got dropped. "You say the Daleks can't be trusted, but have you looked in a mirror?"

"Don't," came the warning I should know to take seriously. So close to pushing one of the buttons I should never come close to.

Since when did I listen to him anyway?

"Why not? You apparently don't have a conscience to tell you when to stop." I took several steps closer, but kept myself between the two. "I wasn't in your War so I'm not going to pretend and ask you to try and see things from his point of view."

"You can't ask me to forget. You don't have the right."

"I know and I'm not even asking you to forgive him, I know that would be too much. Just let this one …."

"What's it doing?" Rose's cautious words sliced through my focus.

I turned to find the Dalek stretching out a tentacle towards the sunlight. A trembling hand pressed against my face where I felt even more tears dampening my cheeks. I definitely wasn't going to let the Doctor get away with murder now.

"What's it doing?" The confusion in the Doctor's voice emerged only a pale echo of the disruption inside his wrath.

"He … he put the hole in the ceiling. I guess he … just wanted to feel the sunlight?" I honestly didn't know why the Dalek wanted the light. I didn't feel sure about anything at the moment.

I glanced at the Doctor and could've sworn he'd gone several shades paler. "But it can't," he murmured, voice cracking. His whole concept of what the Daleks were, shaken from the roots.

I returned my attention to him. He still held the gun, but it definitely pointed at the ground now. Biting my lip, I closed the distance between us. "Again, why not? I don't know if you have any skill in empathy, Doctor, but if you could feel what I do in him right now …. Please, just … let it go. Don't kill him like he did Statten."

My hand reached out and covered one of his.

"I …. They're all dead, Jessica." The Doctor couldn't even meet my eyes. "All of them."

"Why do we survive?" The Dalek's question came out so quiet, we barely heard him.

A muscle in the Doctor's jaw twitched. "I don't know."

"I am the last of the Daleks."

"No you're not. Not anymore." Understanding dampened his anger more than I thought possible. "When Rose touched you, she did more than help you regenerate. You absorbed some of her DNA. You're changing."

"Yes."

"He's feeling, Doctor," I corrected. "For the first time in his life, he's actually feeling something other than hate."

Rose took several steps closer, her fascination drawing her in. "It's changing? So isn't this a good thing?"

"Not for a Dalek." Now the Doctor fixed me with a gaze the … actually had pity for _me_. "That hate is hardwired into their genetic structure, Jessica. Rose might have started the mutation, but you encouraging it to feel is only making things worse, not better."

Worse? My confidence and hope crumbled and died. I'd thought I was doing something good by enforcing all those kinder emotions.

"This is not life. This is sickness. Jessica Gale, order me to die."

I almost gave myself whiplash as a secret fear began making itself known. "What? No, no, no," I rushed forward until I could crouch at eye level. "You can't ask me to do that. Why do you want to die now? I thought you said you wanted to live."

"Not like this." The Dalek's tentacles twitched weakly. "I cannot be like you. Order my destruction."

"No."

"Obey! Obey! Obey!" The Dalek screamed, almost seizing in his desperation.

I could hear my heart ripping into pieces. How could he ask me to order a suicide? "I … I just …." I shook my head. "I can't, I'm sorry."

"But I can," Rose murmured, so close that I jerked in surprise. "I started this by touching it, didn't I? I should finish it."

The Dalek thought for a while. "That … is acceptable."

"Do it, then."

I didn't even bother holding back anymore. With a shudder, I touched the end of one of his tentacles before tearing myself away. Doubt and guilt ripped into me as I retreated back to the Doctor's side.

"Jessica Gale?"

Sniffing, I forced myself to face the Dalek again. "Yes?"

"Are you afraid?"

The nod felt harsh and jerky. "Of course I am."

"So am I. Exterminate."

As the Dalek began rising off the ground, I squeezed my eyes shut. I couldn't bear to make myself watch. It was all my fault. I'd forced the emotions out of him. Encouraged him to question his inborn nature.

Why did I ever think that I'd be able to be of any help?

A flash against my eyelids made me flinch. The Dalek was dead.

A hand gripped my shoulder. "I'm sorry."

I couldn't bear it. Shrugging his hand away, I just shook my head. "Don't, Doctor. Just … don't."


	21. Chapter 21

**A/N: So I'm going to be really busy the next couple of days mostly because my best friend had a health scare so I'm hanging out with her in my free time. **

**Also, yes, this is shorter than usual. I planned on having two parts to this chapter, but having two major conversations in one go felt too crammed together. The main, long discussion with the Doctor takes place in the next one. I think that'll be up either today or late Wednesday. Maybe, if I have time. **

**And number three: I've been told that some reviewers wanted to see the scene in the last chapter where the Dalek kills Statten. I didn't think it was necessary when I originally wrote the thing, but now that I look back, it was a crucial piece of information I don't know why I left out. However, in order to keep the story going until school starts next Monday, I'm not going to write it any time soon. Would any of you be interested in it if I put it in a story for deleted scenes? I'd update it throughout the book if I forget something. As I go, if there's a moment that you want to see, let me know and I'll add it to my list. **

**Main story's first, though!**

A Phone Call

"What did you do this time?" Rose yelped as we were all thrown against the sparking console. The TARDIS' usual breathing sound had turned sour, causing us all to cringe.

The Doctor shoved the new guy, Adam, out of the way as he lurched around, pressing buttons and yanking on bits and pieces. "Don't look at me! I wasn't touching anything!" With an annoyed grunt, he kicked the base of the column.

Just like that, our crazy ride came to a screeching halt. I lost my grip and lurched to the side, coming so close to falling over. I collided with an immovable wall of leather. We sprang apart. Our barriers slammed shut, sealing themselves away in a deliberate recoil. I retreated to the other end of the room, clenching my teeth.

One solid day and we still didn't talk to each other. I wanted to so badly, but all I had to do was look in the Doctor's direction to know he didn't feel the same. The only way I knew we were in the same room would be to keep him in my sights. I couldn't pressure him like that again. Make him open up so we could talk about it. While his lack of trust stung me to no end, I knew I deserved it. I'd sided against him with an alien he hated.

How could he ever forgive me for that?

"… and we're stuck. That's just lovely." Rose made a face as she righted herself. "Do you think you can fix it?"

"Not quickly," came the Doctor's grumble.

Great, so we'd be stranded on the same ship for who knew how long. Nothing could go wrong, could it?

Rose didn't seem the bit fazed by it. "Come on, then. What can we do to help?"

Already half-way beneath the smoldering mass of the console, the Doctor's grunt came out muffled and more than a little annoyed. "Not unless you know how to rewire a time circuit. No? Then just stay out of my way and I'll get done faster."

Even Rose picked up on that one. Her eyebrows crept upwards, but I stopped her from saying anything with a shake of my head. I already ran the risk of getting kicked off. I didn't want her to be put in the same boat and leave the Doctor all by himself. "All right then. Adam, I think that's our cue to start exploring. You coming, Jessie?"

I made a face, but kept my voice low. "No thanks. I haven't had my cappuccino yet. Trust me, I'm not a decent person to be around until that happens." More like I didn't want to act like everything was normal when I knew it wasn't.

I all but slunk out of the room before anyone could talk to me. Only a couple of corners brought me to the kitchen. I smiled. "Thanks, girl. At least you're understanding." I didn't receive any response. Perhaps even the TARDIS knew I had to be alone.

My hot late had only started to cool when my phone rang. It … rang.

Only one person knew my number. To call when I needed help.

"H … hello?" I could barely choke out the word. My hands shook as I waited the long seconds for someone to respond. "If … if this is the person I think it is, just think before saying anything."

"Um …." For once, Jack's voice sounded unsure. "Wow. I … I haven't heard … I mean …." He sighed so forcefully, that I had to hold the phone away from my ear. "Time checks, right. When did you see me last?"

Pinching the bridge of my nose, I struggled to keep from falling completely apart. "Weeping Angels in my apartment and getting sucked into a Vortex Manipulator thingy for the first time." The very beginning of my mess-ups.

"Shit. Too early again."

I frowned at that. "I'm sorry. Do … do you want me to hang up so you can try again?" Why wouldn't he want to talk to me even if he'd called "too early?"

"What? No, no, no." At least the panic reassured me that Jack still behaved like Jack. "Don't hang up, please. I just … needed to hear your voice and I didn't expect to be re-directed this far back. I'm sorry."

"No, I shouldn't have said that," I sighed, planting my head on the counter. Cool and refreshingly hard. "So, I guess you can't tell me what made you get all sentimental?"

"Unfortunately not. You, on the other hand, can tell me why you sound like … well, like shit?"

That startled a laugh out of me when I didn't think I could even imagine one. "Am I that obvious, Jack?" Oh, the ease of having a conversation with him! It made my chest ache even more until it felt ready to explode.

"Unlike the Doctor, I'm not oblivious and you're avoiding. Stop it."

Detail by every little detail, I managed to tell Jack about the disaster of a first adventure. He didn't interrupt. Didn't lecture on what I should or shouldn't have done. He just encouraged me to keep talking until the words came pouring out on their own. Tears came too, but I didn't try to stop them. I'd resisted for so long, tried to remain strong so the Doctor wouldn't see how much of a mess I truly had become.

Eventually I ran out of things to say and the energy to feel sorry for myself. Well, I still felt like a failure, but I wouldn't burst into tears again any time soon. "What do I do, Jack? How can I fix this?"

"Simple: by doing what you do best." The confidence in his voice made me stop breathing. "Talk to him, Jess. Listen to him. You're an empath. You can reach parts of him other companions don't even know exist." Jack paused, a smirk carrying over the line. "Hell, you got through to me, didn't you?"

"Um …." I cleared my throat, scrambling to regain an emotional foothold. "Spoilers, much?"

"Not for too much longer."

For a few moments, we just sat in comfortable silence, like we were in the same room. As with any conversation, it felt natural as if I'd known him much longer than the nine months and change.

Which brought up a fear that I hadn't allowed myself to consider until then.

Swallowing a dry throat, I steeled myself for the worst. "Um … I don't know if you can answer this, but …."

"You can ask me anything, Jess."

"The version of you I left. The Jack Harkness that I fell in love with and spent nine amazing months with. He's …. Will I see him again?"

Only silence this time.

I shuddered as part of my heart finished shattering into a thousand pieces. A tear leaked out of my eyes when I squeezed them shut. I swiped it away. I'd pretty much feared that since the moment I was snatched away. "I see. I think … I think I'd better go."

"Will you talk to him?" Jack's voice had gone rough in a way that squeezed the air from my lungs. "Jess, promise me you'll make time to talk to the Doctor?"

"Don't worry. I'm not planning on talking to anyone else until I do." I tried picturing what Jack's face would be at the moment … and failed. He'd always been smiling. "Thank you for calling. Even if you wanted a future me."

"No," Jack's voice firmed up with a certainty that I couldn't question. "I always find the right Jessica Gale. Even if it isn't the one I expect."

He disappeared into the void with a simple beep.


	22. Chapter 22

**A/N: Well, here's the one chapter I've longed to do for a while. I don't know if I got the dialogue right still, so if I get a better idea in the long run, I'll update this chapter to make the dialogue more real.**

**Once again, I start school next Monday, so I'm going to slow down the releasing of my chapters to get you all used to me not posting as often. (Also because this week is crazy busy IRL.) **

**Thank you all who reviewed, favorited, and followed since I put up the last chapter! You know who you are! :D **

Time Lord Coffee

How to apologize to a Time Lord?

Find some weird coffee next to my refill and hope that he liked it, apparently. Leaning over, I dared a whiff of it ….

… and almost fell over a chair as I stumbled away from it. My head swam, like something had turned it thick and unable to think. "Wow." Okay, I wouldn't be drinking that or even holding that near my face any time soon.

Of course Time Lords could handle stronger stuff than simple humans. Why didn't I think of that _before_ smelling it, I had no idea.

Nevertheless, both mugs were made. No going back and no more delaying in the kitchen any longer.

As much of a mental pep-talk I tried to give myself every step I took, I needn't have worried. The Doctor had left the console room. "Well, that's a big let-down," I grumbled. I stood there like an awkward teenager. Where could I put the coffee without risking that it spilled on something important?

Then my eye caught on a feature that hadn't been there before. A new couch/chair, thing, and what I could only call a coffee table between the two. Just what on earth did the TARDIS have in mind? I sighed and shook my head, setting the Doctor's mug on the table. As long as it didn't get in the way of his running around the console, why bother ignoring it?

Burying my face into the steaming vanilla drink, I wandered over to the doors. A curiosity ate at me. Where had the TARDIS taken us? When and where did we pull over? The frosted glass prevented any clear view. Slowly, I took the latch. Would the TARDIS even let me open the door? She had to have some sort of force field to protect any air from escaping. The door gave way quite easily … and once again my breath was stolen away.

The TARDIS hovered in the middle of space. An actual galaxy drifted in front of me, a brilliant array of colors against the vastness of space.

My legs threatened to give out on me from the sight. Following my instincts, I opened the other door and sat on the threshold. Not sticking my face beyond the TARDIS herself, but still right enough on the edge that it gave me a thrill. Why didn't the TARDIS have any windows? I set the mug down on the floor and rummaged in my pocket, pulling out the musical device from Statten's museum. I hadn't been able to resist. I brushed my fingertips over its surface, again drawing out clear notes right from the start.

At least I was good at something.

"Where did you get that?"

I jumped but held onto the device and not making any sour notes. I'd forgotten that he'd sealed himself off from me. My ugly blush resurfaced as I drew my legs in. I didn't look at him. "Where do you think? I couldn't just let Statten get his grubby little fingers all over it."

An uncomfortable silence descended as neither of us said anything for a while. Then a drift of a certain potent beverage made me turn my head. Standing even more awkwardly than I had earlier, the Doctor stared down into the coffee I'd made him. A dark and thoughtful expression dampened his usual intensity.

I couldn't tell if he'd taken a sip or not.

"_That_ I think the TARDIS gave me," I added with a much quieter tone. Putting the device back into my pocket, I managed to get on my feet, my own mug cradled in my hands. "I didn't go peeking, I promise."

Those eyes snapped up to capture mine. Intense yet not frightening enough to make me back down. "_You_ made this? Did you change this room as well?"

I shook my head. "Again, all the TARDIS' idea." I paused then took a fortifying sip of my drink before gathering up the rest of my courage. "Yes, I made it."

"Why?"

"It's not poisoned, if that's what you're thinking," I retorted before I could control myself. My heart pounded its way into my throat. I needed to say it, but what did I say afterwards? Past time to take the plunge and see what splashed up. "I … uh … it's a peace offering … thing. Back on Earth, I kind of screwed things up. I questioned everything you did and even when I thought I was helping to calm things down, I just made it all worse." Shrugging, I glanced down at my toes. "Because of that and everything I said to you, I'd understand if our next stop ended up being my place."

All right. A lot better than I thought I'd do.

A muscle twitched in the Doctor's jaw. "Stop. Whatever you're blaming yourself for, stop it."

"But …."

"You're an empath," he sighed, running a hand over his head. "And you reacted just like any empath would, but it's my fault for getting you in that situation in the first place. I should never have forced you to get in the line of fire like that."

Some of my timidity melted away and I frowned. "Doctor, you're a Time Lord, but that doesn't make you perfect. I'd say it makes you more human, but I don't think you'd appreciate the comparison."

A twitch of his lips gave away some of what was going on in his head. "You're right, I don't." Somehow his words didn't give as much sting as they could have delivered. A better silence followed. Still a bit awkward, but not embarrassing in the least.

"So, tell me the truth, Doctor, am I going home now?" I needed him to say something on that, be it a yes or a no. Not knowing tore at me so much that an answer would have less of an impact.

"Do you want to?"

That I hadn't expected. I stared at him for several moments. "I don't _want_ to, but if you want to get rid of me, I won't argue." I fiddled with my mug, running my fingers across it until the motion drew my gaze away from the intensity in his eyes.

"You haven't asked yet. Why?"

I knew what he meant. He'd called me by someone else's name. Like he'd had someone like me before in a similar situation. "That's your business, Doctor. I felt everything you were feeling, but after this, you won't catch me asking you about any of that. I know where that line is, at least."

So used to the new silence between us, the opening of the Doctor's emotions brought my head up with a snap. A sharp regret that stung at my mouth. It felt as if some other emotion dampened it, but I couldn't tell what it was. "Right. Good. I think …. Thank you." Those last words came out in such a rush that I almost missed them entirely. Now he couldn't look at me, focusing everything he had on the view outside.

I blinked back the tears that truly threatened to spill this time. The Doctor never thanked anyone. Never came so close to apologizing. Not even to Rose. "Anytime. If and when you want to talk, I'll always be ready to listen. That is," I added with a forced try at humor. "If you don't mind me hitchhiking for a little longer."

Finally the Doctor took a long sip of that coffee, which had somehow stayed hot all this time. "I think," he began, slowly turning to look back at me with the largest grin on his face. "That's a fantastic idea."


	23. Chapter 23

**A/N: Here's the next episode from DW! I hope you enjoyed the last chapter! That one was quite difficult seeing as I'm never sure how the Doctor would react to a conversation just like this. This episode also will be several chapters long since I don't know how much time I'll have available over the weekend. **

**I'll keep reminding you until then, but on Monday, I'll be having school start again, so my production timing of my chapters will go down. Maybe once every two weeks or once a week, in the first part of the term. Closer to finals, though, I might have to wait a while before trying to write again. **

**Hope you guys understand! Thanks!**

The Long Game

Part One

We never talked about Statten's museum after that. Not in front of Rose and certainly not in front of Adam. We didn't even mention the hints that the Doctor had dropped about his past. In the heat of the moment, anyone could have blurted out private details like that. It didn't mean that they would be ready to talk about it.

In a gesture that surprised me, the Doctor had me fetching things from a bag he kept on the floor while he stuck his head into the depths of the console. Of course, that meant I had to keep asking him to describe half the things he needed besides the screwdriver. I thought it meant it turned out to be another thing I sucked at, but besides from his usual snarkiness, the Doctor didn't complain about all of the questions.

He didn't laugh, though perhaps that would've been too much to hope for.

Somehow the Doctor go the TARDIS working again … and he'd finished the coffee.

Note to self: always bring the Doctor a coffee in the morning. He seemed to down it like a man starved.

"Well that didn't take long at all," Rose almost laughed as she skipped into the room. "I knew with you nagging him it would only take a few minutes."

"Wait, what?" I yelped, nearly banging my head on the bottom of the console for the umpteenth time. "It's been half a day at least! Or hanging around this idiot has made me start losing my sense of time already."

"Oi! You're on a time machine, think about it; the TARDIS probably wanted to spare you and your new boyfriend hours of waiting time so she isolated the room so I'd have more time to work." All the while he blurted that out, the Doctor sealed up the bottom of the console and hopped to his feet.

Then his hand stretched downwards. To me. As if nothing had happened.

Feeling a blush rush up my cheeks again, I took it and let him haul me to my feet. "So me handing you things didn't count as help?" Very quickly I took my hand back, but hopefully not in a way that he would take it wrong.

The snort he gave sounded more like normal. "Nope. You're just another pair of hands."

"Oi, you two! Knock it off or you're both getting a smack from me." Rose giggled, looking far from serious. "Point is, the TARDIS is fixed now, isn't it? Adam's been begging to go somewhere."

"Already? "

I shook my head, retreating to one of the chairs. "Time machine, Doctor. Of course he wants to go somewhere." I probably wouldn't get a say for a long time. Time to start getting the Doctor to start liking me again.

Rose and the Doctor started going at it in a friendly way. Bickering like two old friends who knew just how to push each other's buttons in the right order. Their friendship washed over me. Mostly as a warm blanket, but it carried something that didn't make me quite comfortable.

Most people would call it jealousy, but that would be ridiculous.

"Right. This should be safe enough." The Doctor fairly sprung away from the console. "Nothing even remotely interesting at the moment."

I couldn't help but smile at the newfound enthusiasm in the Doctor's steps. He had so much baggage beneath that I-don't-care attitude, but at least he still took the time to enjoy things. Hopefully I could help him get rid of some of that before that Manipulator yanked me away again.

"Oi, American." Fingers snapped in my face, jolting me back to reality. "You coming or what?"

I gaped at him. "Seriously? You don't mind me tagging along? What if I screw everything up again?"

The Doctor grunted in annoyance. "Do you plan on screwing everything up?"

"No."

"Then shut up and come on already. Rose wants to show off for her new boyfriend." Though he wore his normal cocky expression, the look in his eyes softened for a bit.

I knew without a doubt that he was giving me another chance. Another "first adventure" to make up for the last one. I'd be an idiot to refuse. Bumping shoulders with him, I started for the doors. "And you're letting her? I'd say you're going soft, Time Lord."

The Doctor snorted, though it sounded very like a snigger to me. He didn't even react to the casual contact. "In your dreams. Come on."

We burst outside the doors and into a … sealed off room. Great going, Doctor. He did say non-dangerous, though.

"So! It's two-hundred thousand, and … it's a spaceship. Wait, no …." The Doctor paused, scowling to himself. "Make that a space station and, ah, go check out that gate right there. Off you go." A self-satisfied grin plastered itself all over his face as he leaned against the TARDIS completing the picture with crossed arms.

Scooting out of the doorway, I kind of lurked on the other side of the phone box, stuffing my hands in my pockets. Without my bag and coat, I felt kind of helpless, but no way was I about to go back in and potentially miss something. I only had my Manipulator and my cell-phone, but with that grin and the Doctor's willingness to give me another shot, I could take on a whole army of Daleks with just those things and been perfectly calm about it.

Rose looked and felt close to panic. "Two-hundred thousand?" She repeated, as if she couldn't remember anything in her state of nerves.

The Doctor just smirked and nodded, eyebrows rising with what I could've sworn was mischief. "Two-hundred thousand."

"Right." Rose marched back into the TARDIS. "Adam? Out you come."

I winced, dreading the bad reaction I just knew was coming. Although Adam had come with us and didn't seem like that bad of a guy, I still couldn't shake the uncomfortable feeling I had whenever I had to deal with him.

"Well you don't seem very impressed," the Doctor huffed while Rose tried to haul Adam out.

"What do you mean?"

"This is your first time off of planet Earth. I thought you'd be more excited."

And again, that blush made itself known. "I kinda forgot?" Lame, but I actually had forgotten that I hadn't been anywhere but Earth until just then. The museum didn't count. Future didn't mean alien planet or space station. "I said hanging around you was a bad idea."

"Nine-hundred years and I can remember things you don't even know exist. I think I deserve to forget a few things now and then." There, that little crack that had opened for me not that long ago reappeared. Just a fraction, but enough to ease the slight tension in his shoulders. Make the lines on his face disappear somewhat.

"No. You remember the most useless information ever," I countered, trying to raise my eye brow like I'd seen him do … and failing. "It's the little things, Doctor. The little things matter more than the big impressive things sometimes."

"But they're not as much fun."

I snorted and shook my head. "You're hopeless." There was no use in lecturing him on his selective memory when he could be right. Plus, he could argue me to death anyway. Or just run and avoid the discussion completely. "I'll try and have fun, I promise, but until I see anything that looks more alien than the TARDIS, I'm not calling this place an alien space station or whatnot."

Rose and Adam burst out before we could say anything else. "Oh my God."

And I could just count down the minutes until it all proved too much for him.

Rose laughed. "Don't worry, you'll get used to it."

"Where are we?"

"Good question." Rose mimed looking around. Not convincing at all, but the shell-shocked Adam probably wouldn't notice a thing. "So, er, judging by the architecture, I'd say we were in the year two-hundred thousand."

Architecture? When their backs were turned, I banged my head against the TARDIS as quietly as I could. The urge just overcame me.

"If you listen …."

"Yeah?"

"Engines. We're on some sort of space station." Rose nodded as if reassuring herself. "Yeah, definitely a space station."

In the brief moment of silence, I felt something trickle down my neck. I swiped at it. Sweat. As if intensified by the sudden realization, I could feel the heat decending on me like something thick and humid. "Whoever's in charge can turn the air conditioning on, though."

"Yeah, tell me about it." Rose adjusted her shirt with a swipe of her hair. "Tell you what … let's try this gate. Come on."

Trailing behind them all, I followed the three towards a blocked off doorway. It took a bit to clamber over the mess, but the view on the other side made up for it. Planet Earth laid out in all of its blue and green glory. I hovered at the back with a smile making its way onto my face. I actually stood on a space station.

The Doctor glance my way. Something must have shown on my face because the smile on his own made me soar even higher than the station.

"… I'll let the Doctor describe it." Rose's voice drew us both back to the situation she had herself in.

"Ah. The Fourth great and bountiful Human Empire," came the Doctor's ready supply of information. "Planet Earth at its height. Covered in mega-cities, five moons, population ninety-six billion."

The numb shock radiating from Adam had me counting the seconds until total collapse.

Clueless, the Doctor just rambled on. "The hub of a galactic domain stretching across a million planets, a million species, with mankind right in the middle."

Adam fainted.

"That lasted two minutes, Doctor," I sighed. "I knew he couldn't handle it."

The Doctor still faced the window, but I could've sworn I heard some amusement hiding beneath the annoyance. "He's your boyfriend, Rose."

Rose all but shuddered. "Not anymore."


	24. Chapter 24

**A/N: Wow, I managed to finish this just before heading to work! Wow. I didn't think I'd have the time, but I think I pulled it off! Woot! **

**Anyway, I hope this came across as smoothly as I hoped it would. This episode didn't really interest me when I saw it and made me really hate Adam, but I'm trying to make it more of an episode that I can enjoy. I didn't like the original enough to memorize everything so I had to watch it again at least three times. Lol. It's a challenge, but I think as an episode where Jessica and the Doctor start over, it's a pretty good place to start. **

**Let me know what you think, please! All the reviews give me encouragement.**

**Also, school starts on Monday if you all haven't read the notes until now. Then my timing for each chapter might drop to once a week if I have the time. Less once finals start. **

**Thanks again!**

The Long Game

Part Two

"Money. We need money. Let's go use a cashpoint."

I could do nothing but try and smile at the Doctor's discomfort. The buzz and the mayhem of what had to be the food court pounded at me in a way that felt too much like my first trip to London. The only reason I could manage it to any degree came from an overwhelming sense that how they thought, how their emotions came out, was all wrong. Like they had minds of their own, but those minds were complacent with … something.

It caused a knot to appear on my forehead just like what happened with the Doctor when he got confused. I could usually put my finger on what pulsed beneath the surface. In such a confined place, I should have been able to guess at what drove these people. I got nothing except an increasing instinct that something really wrong lay hidden beneath everything.

For instance, I finally noted with an even bigger frown, something had the hairs on the back of my neck tingling. My eyes followed the Doctor and the others as they approached a terminal that looked suspiciously like an ATM. I hung back some, following the urge that raced through me. The feeling of déjà vu intensified. I'd only felt such a surge of instincts a couple of times before.

A breath warmed my neck that didn't belong to the crush of people around me.

I sighed, shaking my head. "You never learn, do you? I'm not going anywhere, if only so I can reach the right time to deck you for being so stupid." I couldn't turn around and look. Not when the Doctor could just glance over. Didn't want to cause even more of a situation than I was already balancing.

"How did you …."

The confusion in his breathless question told me plenty. "So you're going backwards in time as well as interfering." With no hesitation, I jabbed backwards with my elbow, connecting with a very solid body. I smirked at the grunt it produced. "Trust me, you deserve more than that. Big freaking idiot, that's what you are."

A forehead pressed against the back of my head. "Please, Jessica. Just turn around and leave before it's too late. Before you get too wrapped up in all of … this." Hands gripped my shoulders like I'd blow away if he let go.

"I'm sorry," I breathed, reaching back to grip one of those hands. The desperation rolling off of him didn't come off as intense as the first time he'd surprised me, but it still threatened to consume any common sense he still had. "Whatever's going to happen to me, I'm very sorry, but I can't walk away now. I won't be leaving no matter what you try to do to change that."

A movement caught my eye. "You'd better hide. I think you're starting to wonder where I am, Doctor."

One breath and the hands and warmth had vanished. He'd go back even further. Back to where I first saw him in Downing Street. Couldn't fault him for stubbornness.

"Right! There you are." The Doctor, the right one, almost skipped over. An intense, exhilarated bounce made him livelier than I'd seen him in a while. "Sent the domestics out sightseeing. Shouldn't get into trouble. Now we can look around a bit."

Blinking away the remnants of the other Doctor's desperation, I frowned a little in confusion. "We?"

"You heard me."

"I don't know anything about two-hundred thousand," I protested, jabbing my finger in his direction. I didn't touch, but came pretty close. "You're the brains as you keep reminding me."

"But you know people." The thrill of finding trouble faded and the Doctor fixed me with a no-nonsense stare that tried to bring out the ugly blush again. "You've been frowning ever since we got here, so you've noticed something's wrong, too."

I had? I rubbed my forehead self-consciously. "But …."

"_And_," the Doctor held up a finger, keeping me from stopping his train of thought. "I need someone to ask the stupid questions. Ow!" This time he didn't quite duck out of the reach of my hand.

I shook the sting out of my hand, but softened my glare quite a bit. "They aren't stupid and you know it." Inside, I'd been knocked off my feet by the fact that the Doctor was asking for my opinion. Granted, he could be a little thick, but going so far as to give me a compliment? "You're not saying this to make me feel better, are you?"

The Doctor's only reply was a cheeky grin before he grabbed my hand and hauled me towards the other side of the crowded room. Two women crossed our path before long, bringing the Doctor's charge to an end. He gave a none-too-subtle tug on my arm before releasing my hand.

Right. Stupid question time. "Sorry," my voice wobbled a little as I scramble to think about what the Doctor would ask. "Um … this is going to sound stupid, but we're a little lost. Where are we?"

Both women looked this close to model-gorgeous. The dark-haired one scoffed and gestured at something to our right. "Floor One-three-nine. Could they make it any bigger?"

I had to admit, the two of us had to have been pretty stupid not to see the gigantic numbers looming on the wall. The urge to bang my head into something hard started to creep up on me. "Right, sorry. I meant what station are we on?"

That sent them both smirking and their eyes widened a little too suggestively. "Must have been one hell of a party you two had."

"You're on Satellite Five."

I shot a glare at the Doctor. This was why I didn't just go up and ask people questions without a plan.

At least the Doctor caught on to that. "What's Satellite Five?" If the Doctor had to ask that, then he probably didn't know—which worried me more than I wanted to admit—or he simply wanted to hear their reactions.

Their disbelief gave off some warning bells. "Come on. How could you have gotten on board if you don't know where you are?"

Well, I could answer that one. "Look at him," I rolled my eyes and jabbed my thumb in his direction. "He's stupid and dragged me along with him."

"Oi, that's harsh!" I felt pretty sure that the indignation didn't have to be forced.

The brunette froze, a little bit of fear souring her amusement. "Hold on a minute. Are you a test? Some sort of management test … kind of thing?"

Something that the Doctor could latch onto at least. He perked up with the worst excuse for a guilty smile ever. "You've got us. Well done. You're too clever." A hand rooted around in his jacket pocket until he fished out something like an ID holder. With a snap, he held it in front of the women and their faces changed.

When I tilted my head to get a glimpse … all I saw was blank paper.

Oh the Doctor was full of surprises. Another thing to add to the list of questions waiting for him when we got back.

"We were warned about this in basic training," the brunette murmured, her nerves spiking through the roof once she saw whatever I should've seen on that paper. Her friend glanced her way. "All workers have to be versed in company promotion."

Tugging her suit a little straighter, the darker woman took a deep breath. "Right, fire away. Ask your questions. If it gets me to Floor Five-hundred, I'll do anything."

I tapped my finger against my leg. Thing Number One that didn't feel quite right. I didn't like corporate ambition to begin with, but the way the woman seemed to revere the words "Floor Five-hundred" worried me for no clear reason. And emotions that didn't make any sense to me might help the Doctor figure out what had both of us asking questions.

The Doctor frowned a little bit. "Why? What happens at Floor Five-hundred?"

"The walls are made of gold."

I couldn't stop the shudder that rolled over me. My breath came up short for just a few brief seconds. Walls couldn't really be made of gold. Not in year two-hundred thousand where there'd be plenty of more useful materials. I'd read too many books to be comfortable with that.

Seeming to snap out of an almost reverent trance, the darker woman perked up with a smile that just made me wince inside. The brown-nosing was about to start. "And you should know, Mister and Missus Management."

"No, no, we're not …."

"We're so not …."

"… married."

And there went little bit of confidence I'd had. Speaking at the same time? The Doctor and I inched away from each other. How could they even think that we were married?

Both women smirked, but didn't say anything else. The woman seemingly in charge ushered us over to a literal wall of TVs. "So, this is what we do. Latest news, sandstorms on the new Venus archipelago. Two hundred dead. Glasgow water riots into their third day. Space lane seventy seven closed by sunspot activity. And over on the Bad Wolf channel, the Face of Boe has just announced he's pregnant."

My eyes flicked over every one of them. Glimpses of a wider galaxy I probably wouldn't see this trip. The Bad Wolf channel caught my eye and I finally saw a decent alien-looking alien. Just a big head in some sort of container. "How does _that_ work?" I muttered under my breath. Thankfully not loud enough for anyone but me to hear it.

That went in one of the Doctor's over-sized ears and out the other. "I get it. You broadcast the news." Bored already, he could easily be losing interest in the lead we had.

The look on the woman's face almost made me feel stupid. "We are the news. We're the journalists. We write it, package it and sell it. Six hundred channels. All coming out of Satellite Five, broadcasting everywhere. Nothing happens in the whole human empire without it going through us."

_But what about the aliens?_ Now that the Doctor had mentioned it, I could feel the frown on my forehead returning and nothing I thought of helped smooth it away.

"Now, everybody behave, we have a management inspection." The room we were led into contained at least seven more people. The woman paused and tossed the Doctor such a coy look that I hoped he didn't notice. "How do you want it? By the book?"

"Right from scratch, thanks." Thank goodness for small miracles.

"Okay. So, ladies, gentlemen, multi-sex, undecided or robot, my name is Cathica Santini Khadeni. That's Cathica with a C, in case you want to write to Floor five hundred praising me, and please do. Now, please feel free to ask any questions. The process of news gathering must be open, honest, and beyond bias. That's company policy."

I made a face as soon as Cathica turned her back again. If she kept it up, I just knew I was going to smack that right out of her. Or throw up. Or both. Even the Doctor had to have picked up on that.

The brunette from earlier cleared her throat. "Actually, it's the law."

Ha. Take that Flirty News-Anchor from Space.

Cathica's embarrassment made me grin a little. "Yes, _thank you_, Suki." Taking a breath, Cathica moved to the side of the chair that dominated the middle of the room. "Okay, keep it calm. Don't show off for the guests. Here we go," she almost breathed as she sat in the chair. "And engage safety …."

The others in the room held their palms over the terminals in front of them. The whole room lit up like a great big battery. Cathica snapped her fingers.

A whole opened up in her forehead.

I took a step forward, stunned, revolted, yet fascinated all the same. I could see her brain, for crying out loud! I almost missed the beam of light that streamed directly into that whole … and the dread that started darkening the Doctor's emotions.

With a face slowly becoming grim, the Doctor strode a little ways around the room. "Compressed information, streaming into her. Reports from every city, every country, every planet, and they all get packaged inside her head. She becomes part of the software. Her brain_ is_ the computer."

I focused on Cathica and got … nothing. "And it overrode her emotions, Doctor," I murmured so Rose couldn't hear me. When he glanced at me, I gestured at everyone else in the room. "It's … it's like they've all been drugged into a trance or something. I can't sense a thing."

"But if it's going straight into her brain, she must be a genius," Rose murmured.

The Doctor shook his head. "Nah, she won't remember any of it. Too much information. If she did, her brain would blow up. It overwhelms the normal functions so the brain can act as the processor. As soon as it closes, she forgets."

Well, as far as a hidden explanation went, that kind of worked. I nodded. If the brain got overridden, the emotions would probably be effected as well.

While Adam seemed _this_ close to freaking out, Rose didn't seem quite as daunted. "And the people on the edge? What do they do?"

"They've all got tiny little chips in their head, connecting them to her and they transmit six hundred channels. Every single fact in the Empire beams out of this place. Now that's what I call power," the Doctor added, the dread finally making its way into his voice. Oh, he recognized that technology, all right, and if it gave him a very bad feeling ….

"You all right?"

I glanced over to see Adam leaning on the small railing, looking close to losing his balance. "I can see her brain."

I groaned inside. Loud and long. Still hung up several conversations behind.

"Do you want to get out?"

"No. No. This technology, it's amazing." Adam's blooming enthusiasm made me edge away from him. Felt too close to the greed of Statten for my comfort. Perhaps I was simply overreacting. Perhaps he honestly found tech to be interesting. But considering his recent job, I couldn't shake the feeling that he'd get into some sort of trouble.

"This technology's wrong." With the strength of his scowl, I could almost see the wheels grinding away in his head.

Rose smirked a little. "Trouble?"

Finally, she picked up on the wrongness of Satellite Five.

Mischief brought a smile to the Doctor's face. "Oh yeah."


	25. Chapter 25

**A/N: Well, here's probably the last chapter before school starts. I have some pre-reading to do and that's going to eat up the rest of my free time. I might be doing something like once a week or so. However, with the workload of a new term starting, it might take a long time between chapters. So I humbly ask your forgiveness and patience as I struggle to reallocate some free time between two Bachelor-level classes. I really hate having to stop writing for fun, but unfortunately, real life has intervened yet again. **

**I hope you all understand and I'll hopefully keep this going, albeit at a snail's pace now. **

The Long Game

Part Three

"Rose, can I have a moment?" I found those words coming out of my mouth as we followed Suki through the cafeteria. A need burned inside and refused to let go. Well, the Doctor had said to follow my instincts ….

Rose glanced over at the retreating back of her tag-a-long. "Oh, I think Adam might've seen a bit too much …."

"It'll only take a minute, promise."

"All right, then." Rose stopped and faced me, though her eyes kept flicking over towards where Adam had disappeared to. "What's on your mind?"

Rubbing the back of my neck, I made a face. I had no right to stick my nose into what I thought of as her responsibility. In real time, I'd known her for three, maybe four days. Not enough time to start telling her what to do. Not without telling her about being an empath, anyway.

No way was I secure enough to tell her that.

I shrugged and tried to think of something that didn't sound lame, but actually helped. "Oh, just … don't give Adam the TARDIS key if he gets overwhelmed, okay?" Somehow I managed to fail at both; lame and not-helpful. Blushing furiously, I turned and started to trudge back to the Doctor's side.

"Hold on," Rose grabbed my arm, forcing me to turn around. "What are you on about? What do you mean, not give him the key?"

Swallowing my initial reaction, I tried to meet her eyes. And couldn't. "He collected alien technology for humans to use, Rose. Think of what he could do with _future_ technology." I tugged my arm free and began weaving my way back to the Doctor.

On my own I was completely useless.

Spotting the Doctor's leather jacket through the crowd, I almost trotted to catch up. Then I saw Suki giving him a big hug … and the Doctor returning it. That made me freeze. How could he have hugged her, a total stranger? I could've sworn the last time I touched him that he didn't really like that much familiarity. What was so different between us? Why did he hug her?

A disgusting surge of what I would've called jealousy rolled up my throat even as Suki raced towards the elevator. How could I be jealous? The Doctor was a friend. I could share a friend, right?

"Good riddance," Cathica sighed.

"You're talking like you'll never see her again," the Doctor snorted. "She's only going upstairs."

Cathica shook her head, a dreadful certainty reaching me from even so far away. "We won't. Once you go to Floor Five-hundred, you never come back."

The Doctor followed Cathica back my way, managing to catch my eye. "Have you ever been up there?" As he passed by, he nudged my arm. A signal for me to follow, maybe, and one I couldn't refuse.

"I can't. You need a key for the lift, and you only get a key with promotion. No one gets to five hundred except for the chosen few."

Yep, Floor Five-hundred definitely sounded too good to be true.

Returning to the white room from earlier took some convincing. Even though the Doctor posed as Management, Cathica seemed extremely reluctant to even let us take a look around the place when it wasn't in use. Thankfully, the Doctor played the charmer—a part of him that I didn't even know he had—and Cathica couldn't truly say no. Not if she wanted that coveted promotion.

"Look, they only give us twenty minutes for maintenance," Cathica tried again to explain as we entered the quiet room. "Can't you give it a rest?"

As the Doctor took a deceptively casual look around the room, I tried to come up with a question that didn't sound as stupid as my earlier ones did. "But haven't you been to another floor? Either up or down?" Finally, I could say something of intelligence. "Like when you arrived here?"

"I went to floor sixteen when I first arrived. That's medical. That's when I got my head done, and then I came straight here. Satellite Five, you work, eat and sleep on the same floor." As she spoke, Cathica started frowning at the two of us. "That's it, that's all. You're not management, are you?"

Having sprung into Cathica's chair, the Doctor seemed to perk up a bit. "At last, she's clever. I told you she was clever, didn't I, Jessica?"

"No, you didn't."

"No?"

I smirked at his awkwardness. Who cared if he gave hugs to random strangers? "Not once, though I think you should have by now."

"Oi!"

"Yeah, well, whatever it is, don't involve me," Cathica muttered, bustling to the other side of the room. "I don't know anything."

Even I knew a textbook answer for someone who might have noticed something but didn't want to ask. Too much reading. And all of my empathic alarms going off at once.

"Don't you even ask?"

Cathica snorted. "Well why would I?"

"Um … because you're a journalist?" I crossed my arms as an irritation prickled under my skin. "I'm going to school to be a journalist and I know you shouldn't just take things at face value."

"Don't tell me how to do my job!"

"Why's the crew all human?" Inserted the Doctor with a little bit of a glance my way. I couldn't tell if it was approval or a warning to shut up as usual. With him, he could go from hot to cold in a matter of moments.

Cathica's discomfort rose by several degrees. "What's that got to do with anything?"

"There's no aliens on board. Why?"

The pause lasted for several seconds. At last he had her thinking. "I … don't know. No real reason. They're not banned or anything."

I sighed. So close. "So where are the aliens?" Great, I started to sound like the Doctor when annoyed.

"I … suppose immigration's tightened up," she offered, sounding less convincing by the second. "It's had to, what with all the threats."

The Doctor leaned forward, like he couldn't wait to hear what she came up with. "What threats?"

"I don't know all of them. Usual stuff. And the price of space warp doubled so that kept the visitors away. Oh, and the government on Chavic Five's collapsed, so that lot stopped coming, you see. Just lots of little reasons, that's all."

I couldn't help it. I groaned, giving into the urge to bang my head into something. Namely, the chair the Doctor sat on.

"Adding up to one great big fact that you didn't even notice."

Cathica frowned, shifting even more uncomfortably. "Doctor, if there was any kind of conspiracy Satellite Five would have seen it. We see everything."

The Doctor pivoted in the seat until he faced Cathica. Everything returned to grim from his you're-a-stupid-human attitude. "I can see better. The society's the wrong shape. Even the technology.

"It's cutting edge!"

"It's backwards! There's a great big door in your head. You should've chucked this out years ago."

I bit my lip then decided to risk it. Risk describing what exactly I'd been sensing ever since I stepped out of the TARDIS. "Everything about the people on this station is wrong. Like they're used to not asking questions like this." When they both just looked at me like I really was an idiot, I threw up my hands. I spun around, trying to get a thousand and one impressions into some verbal form of communication. "I don't know, it's … it's the impression I'm getting. Like you're all lacking in normal ambition. Except to get to that magical Floor Five-hundred."

When I dared to peek at the Doctor, a blank look dominated his face, but a smile began growing on it. One I felt pretty sure wasn't faked. "Fantastic. Absolutely fantastic. I knew you'd figure it out eventually." Yep, there was no way that grin could be anything but real.

I shrugged, stuffing my hands in my pockets again with a self-conscious grin of my own. "So I'm right?" His praise felt like I'd had the sun bloom to life in front of me.

"Completely. Humanity's been stunted."

"Excuse me, but how would you know?" Cathica protested, her sharpness breaking in where it wasn't wanted. "What do you mean, stunted?"

Still smiling at me, it took the Doctor a few moments to realize that he'd been asked a question. He rolled his eyes. "Trust me, humanity's been set back about ninety years. When did Satellite Five start broadcasting?"

The sense of doom that crashed into me signaled that everything had started to click inside Cathica's head. "N-ninety-one years ago."


	26. Chapter 26

**A/N: OMG, yes, a chapter at long last! I made this extra-long because I don't know when I'll be able to get another done. The quality may suck more, too, but I tried. School takes away a lot of my inspiration.**

**That's all I can think of for now. Hopefully this lives up to your patience and expectations! Thanks again for all the likes and faves and follows! And reviews, of course!**

The Long Game

Part Four

Rose finally caught up with us as we left the newsroom. Well, the Doctor all but charged through whoever got in his way and Cathica scrambled to keep up with him.

Adam, surprise, surprise, was nowhere in sight.

"What's going on," she blurted, trying to keep up with the frantic pace.

I shrugged, trying to hide my suspicion about Adam where she couldn't see. "Oh you know: someone's been controlling the human race for almost a hundred years and they haven't noticed." Not to mention that the Doctor's irritation and near-anger at the whole situation left little eddies in his wake. "How's Adam?"

"He just needed some time to let it all … sink in."

"So he's on his own?"

Rose's scowl gave me plenty of warning to back off. "He's _fine_, Jessie. I made him promise not to do anything stupid."

I wanted to tell her that we barely knew him. That his promises might mean diddly squat.

"Oi! Come on, you two, stop lagging."

That could all wait until we figured out what had gone wrong with the human race. I squashed the urge to smash Rose into a bloody pulp and jogged to catch up with the Doctor. Just because I'd managed to score a couple points so far didn't mean I had enough credits to tell Rose what to do.

"We are so going to get into trouble," Cathica muttered as the Doctor pulled out his screwdriver and began working on the nearest wall panel. "You're not allowed to touch the mainframe. You're going to get told off."

The Doctor made a noise somewhere between a grunt and a snort. "Rose, Jessica, anyone, tell her to button it." On and off his screwdriver flashed as he tore into the wires.

"I could tell you the same thing," I retorted, wincing in apology at Cathica. The Doctor never had a clue as to when he pushed the borders of rude. I sucked at my own inter-personal wrinkles, but at least I could try and work at easing his own.

Thankfully Cathica had become too flustered to even notice. "You can't just vandalize the place! Someone's going to notice! This has nothing to do with me. I'm going back to work." She ended up spluttering when the Doctor showed no signs of listening to her.

The Doctor tossed some wires at Rose, which she caught with only a minimum of fumbling. His fingers gave a little sarcastic wave. "Go on, then. See you! Hold this for me, would you?" A couple of wires were thrust into my hands before I could say anything.

Well at least he didn't discriminate when doling out "hold this" duties. I wiped some of the sweat that tingled on my skin off my forehead then started acting like the helpful object-holder that he seemed to think I'd become.

Cathica almost started to head away, but skidded to a stop and pivoted around. "But I can't just leave you, can I?"

I could feel all three of us roll our eyes at her.

Rose flipped her hair out of the way. "If you want to be useful, get them to turn the heating down. It's boiling. What's wrong with this place? Can't they do something about it?" Fluffing her shirt, she handed the Doctor something he beckoned for.

"I don't know," Cathica sighed with a shake of her head. "We keep asking. Something to do with the turbine."

"Oh, something to do with the turbine," the Doctor mocked. I could almost hear the sneer that had to be on his face.

"Well I don't know!"

The Doctor's heavy sigh and heave of his shoulders paled in comparison to what I could feel buzzing off of him. "Exactly. I give up on you, Cathica." He turned and snatched the wires from my grasp, shaking one of them at said woman. "Now Rose—look at Rose—she's asking the right kinds of questions."

Rose beamed at him. "Thank you."

Of course, no more thanks were directed towards me. He'd already praised me once. Perhaps he'd reached his limit for the day. I shrugged, tucking my arms into my jeans. "Why _is_ it so hot, anyway?" I could barely notice it, probably from growing up in lovely California, but it felt warm enough to make it feel just sticky enough.

Cathica's confusion rolled off of her in waves. "One minute you're worried about the Empire and now you're worried about central heating?"

"Well never underestimate plumbing." The Doctor turned and winked at me. Actually winked. "Plumbing's very important."

I just gaped at him. What?

Minutes passed while he fiddled with wiring and codes and whatever he needed to fix whatever he planned on fixing. Or less than a few minutes. I kind of zoned out for a bit. One of the side-effects of the growing feeling of being a third wheel. The Doctor and Rose had been on dozens of adventures already, they had a system. I could see it in the way they just … worked together.

How long would the feeling last?

"Here we go," the Doctor's voice brought me out of my semi-jealous state of mine. "Override two one five point nine."

"How come it's given you the code?"

A queasy feeling came over me as I refocused on the three in front of me. Who would just hand out something like a code to a guy who'd been poking around in the system?

The Doctor glanced over his shoulder and towards the ceiling. "Someone up there likes me."

"Or wants to kill you," I protested. "That's the bait of all baits if ever there was one." The way he looked at me almost made me wish I hadn't thought of saying those words. Almost but not enough.

"Of course someone wants to kill me," the Doctor snorted. "I've had loads try to and yet I'm still here." With a very self-satisfied smirk, the Doctor jogged away, forcing me to follow him and shut up.

I added that topic to the growing list of conversations he owed me.

The Doctor ended up heading for the nearest elevator back in the now-deserted food court. Already open and waiting in addition to having the code just handed over to us. I could taste the trap with something like a road-kill stench that made my stomach refuse to settle down. Going against the Slitheen in Downing Street had been one thing; we kinda knew what we were getting into then. Letting ourselves be led into a trap by something or someone even the Doctor didn't know about had taken everything to a whole new level.

"Come with us," the Doctor offered, turning around with an honest inviting expression.

Cathica shook her head violently. "No way."

The Doctor shrugged and held up a hand. "Bye, then!"

"Well, don't mention my name. When you get in trouble, just don't involve me."

As soon as Cathica left, the Doctor and Rose tromped towards the elevator. I followed, but at a slower pace, unsure as to if they'd appreciate my presence.

"Oi, American. You coming?"

The Doctor's voice snapped me out of my own head. Working a grin onto my face, I managed to squeeze into the elevator with them. With two, it would've been fine, but with me in there, three definitely made a crowd.

Of course the Doctor seemed quite oblivious to the situation. "Well, that's her gone. Adam's run off. Looks like it's just us chickens."

Rose's grin bled of her feelings for him. Feelings I tried to ignore. "Yup!"

"Good."

The Doctor's hand reached down and snatched mine up. No warning or prompting. Just a genuine reach for my hand as the door closed.

Even so, it left me flustered. So much so that I could barely even squeak. "Uh …." _Very clever, Jess. Good job keeping your cool._

The whole ride up, I couldn't shake the increased feeling of dread as we neared the all-important Floor Five Hundred. I couldn't help but hear Cathica's words that no one came back over and over in my mind. I could only think of one option that would make people go one way and never return. I didn't want to say it to the Doctor or Rose, though. For one, the Doctor probably already knew that and just didn't want to say. Second, I had the feeling that Rose wouldn't be much use if she knew ahead of time.

As soon as the elevator doors slid open and assaulted us with freezing cold air, I cursed my emotional intuitions. After the heat wave downstairs, the temperature change made me wince, instantly wrapping my arms around myself. The walls, floors, everything had been covered in several inches of ice and frost. Everything felt just … dead. Unnaturally quiet for being the top floor of a huge space station.

I could faintly hear the Doctor's sigh. "The walls are made of gold," he murmured, the bitterness and disappointment radiating from him in waves so strong that I couldn't hold back a shudder. "You two should go back downstairs."

"Yeah?" Rose stepped out, feet crunching on the frost below. "Tough."

"Jessica?" Came the Doctor's query when I didn't say anything.

Massaging my forehead, I joined the two of them. "Nope. And don't even try ordering me back. I'm not listening."

The Doctor made a noise in the back of his throat, but said nothing, leading us into the frozen tomb. I stuck close to him, my skin prickling like I had a dozen eyes watching me from the shadows. I didn't dare look left or right. Not with the taste of road-kill souring my mouth. If I could taste something like death, I didn't even want to know what hid behind some of the draped plastic.

_Such a wuss. Such a wuss._

Pinching the bridge of my nose, I let my feet drag a bit. I just knew I wouldn't be able to eat anything for a long time let alone get that taste out of my mouth. Did anything come out exactly as planned with the Doctor or would that be asking too much?

A hand roughly pushed me backwards before I could come out of my thoughts. I grunted, stumbling over some debris and falling not so gracefully onto the floor. My eyes snapped back upwards towards the Doctor's retreating back. He'd pushed me! Indignation pushed aside any nerves as I scrambled to my feet.

[_Don't._] Came the Doctor's firm warning, resounding in my head over my own thoughts. [_It's too dangerous._]

I started hearing voices coming from around a corner and froze. [_Three's better than two!]_ I protested, though my racing mind made it difficult to actually think the words towards him.

[_Two's good enough if there's a third for back up, now shut it._] With that, his mind closed itself off again. In real time, I over heard him say, "I think she's dead," which confirmed the dead-animal taste and dread I'd been feeling.

Crouched behind a thick wall of plastic curtains, I desperately felt my pockets for something that could prove useful. How could I not have my bag at a time like this? How could I even help or how? At the moment, all that I could do would be to yell and make them look my way or ….

My hand froze on my side pocket. Something long and slim rested near the seam when I could've sworn my pockets had been empty earlier. I didn't dare breathe as I pulled out the Doctor's screwdriver. My heart danced in my throat. It sat solid and with a heavier weight than I expected, but it could've been nitroglycerine. I didn't know how to use it! Why would the Doctor give it to me? How? When?

I didn't have time to stare at it like an idiot any longer as vicious snarls and growls filled the room. A real alien, not just a human-looking one. Swallowing down the nerves that had started growing even more intense, I dared to move from my cover to another set of sheets that gave me a better look at where the Doctor and Rose had moved to. My eyes almost bugged out of my skull and I had to struggle to keep myself from rushing in.

Zombie-looking people had snatched Rose and the Doctor while I'd been an idiot and stared at the screwdriver. As I watched, they all but shoved them into some sort of stand with manacles attached. What to do? What to do?

A man who seemed the very definition of vampire paleness smirked at them. "Create a climate of fear and it's easy to keep the borders closed. It's just a matter of emphasis. The right word in the right broadcast repeated often enough can destabilize an economy, invent an enemy, change a vote." His casual blasé sent chills down my spine. Did he have no sympathy for the human race at all?

"So the people on earth are all slaves?" Rose protested. She gave the manacles a tug, but they didn't show any signs of budging.

"Well, now, there's an interesting point. Is a slave a slave if he doesn't know he's enslaved?"

"Yes." The Doctor's instant and very firm reply caused my lips to turn up a little. I'd recognize that tone anywhere.

The man's face wrinkled in keen disappointment. "Oh. I was hoping for a philosophical debate. Is that all I'm going to get? Yes?"

Now the Doctor's face had started getting that smug look back again. "Yes."

A hand brushed my arm, causing me to jump. Cathica. Her mouth opened to say something, but I made some sort of shushing gesture that I didn't keep track of. If she spoke when we were so close to them, we'd be caught and up a creek with definitely no paddle.

"Oh, you're no fun."

"Let me out of these manacles. You'll find out how much fun I am."

My head snapped back around and found the Doctor staring at the guy with a look in his eyes that I'd never seen before. No matter what kind of careless attitude he gave off, a dangerous man lay beneath the surface. Just a glimpse of that made my gut twist and go cold.

Cathica tugged on my arm again. "What's going on?" She mouthed, eyes wider than my own.

"Shut up and try to help them," I hissed back. Seriously, that woman had no concept of danger or silence in the face of it.

"…but you couldn't have done this all on your own," Rose pried. At least she could use her brain even if she'd been chained up.

"No. I represent a consortium of banks. Money prefers a long-term investment. Also, the Jagrafess needed a little hand to install himself."

The Doctor snorted, looking upwards at the ceiling. "No wonder, creature that size. What's his life span?"

The man's smirk made me want to wipe it off his face and into the ice around him. "Three thousand years."

"That's one hell of a metabolism generating all that heat. That's why Satellite Five's so hot. You pump it out of the creature, channel it downstairs. Jagrafess stays cool, it stays alive. Satellite Five is one great big life support system." By the time he finished talking, the Doctor had turned his head enough to stare straight at us. Well, at Cathica, but he could see us. He knew we were there.

Even I knew a hint when phrased that openly. I nudged Cathica with my elbow, giving in and bending my head close to her ear. "He's talking to you. Use your head like he said. Trust him and for once in your life, _think_."

Cathica had already started shaking her head. The fear and the habits so deeply ingrained inside her that just the thought of stepping outside those bounds had her frozen in place.

I sighed and refocused on the Doctor. I could only do so much to help her when the Doctor's and Rose's lives were on the line. A surge went through the manacles in wavering lines of electricity. Pain I could actually sense spiked off of the both of them. My hand snapped to my face as my hand convulsed around the screwdriver.

"Leave her alone. I'm the Doctor, she's Rose Tyler. We're nothing, we're just wandering." The Doctor blurted when the sparks vanished.

I had to do something … soon. But I didn't know what.

"Tell me who you are!"

"I just said!"

"Yes, but who do you work for? Who sent you? Who knows about us? Who exactly …." The alien above started growling and hissing at him. "Time Lord."

Shit.

"Oh yes," came the man's growing excitement. "The last of the Time Lords in his traveling machine. Oh, and with his little humans from long ago. Hang on, where's the other one?"

I could see a muscle twitch in the Doctor's jaw. "You don't know what you're talking about."

With my heart inches from bursting out of my mouth, I turned the screwdriver around and around in my hand. There didn't seem to be any buttons or dials or anything. I couldn't sit around for too much longer.

"No, no, no. I know there's another girl who's traveling with you. Where'd she run off to?"

"Someone's been telling you lies." The Doctor's eyes flew in my direction for only a split second, but I could read the warning in them. I had to stay hidden. He _wanted_ me to stay hidden.

Well, he'd have to learn to live with disappointment. The Doctor and Rose were in trouble and he didn't have his screwdriver, I did.

The man's smirk set my skin prickling. "You mean young master Adam Mitchell?"

When a monitor lit up with Adam almost getting his brain sucked out, I finally had a use for one of the vicious swear words I picked up at work. A cold, terrifying dread settled in me. Like the whole space station had imploded and sat squarely across my shoulders. Why hadn't Rose kept an eye on him?

"What the hell's he done?" The Doctor blurted, his unflappable calm disappearing in undisguised horror and shock. "What the hell's he gone and done? They're reading his mind. He's telling them everything."

"And through him, I know everything about you. Every piece of information in his head is now mine. And you have infinite knowledge, Doctor. The Human Empire is tiny compared to what you've seen in you …."

I had to stop him. Distract him until the Doctor could think of a way to get out of this. I smacked the screwdriver against my knee. "Come on you stupid little …." The blue end whirred to life, though I could've sworn I hadn't hit anything different. Half a second later, the lights overhead—the ones that still worked—sputtered and threw sparks. It didn't affect the computers, sadly, but it sent the guy ducking away with a very satisfying yelp.

"What? Who's doing that?"

Well, I'd wanted a distraction. Tucking the screwdriver into my pocket again, I stood and poked my head out of the corner. "Sorry! That was me, I'm afraid!" I winced, stuffing my hands behind my back. More to keep their shaking out of sight. How could the Doctor keep his cool all the time?

"What the hell are you doing?"

I clenched my jaw against the anger that assaulted me and kept a grin on my face similar to one I'd seen him wear. "Honestly? I have no idea. Any advice would be appreciated, actually." I only came a couple of feet closer before my nerves completely failed and ruined the whole thing.

Of course, that didn't assume that I'd ruined it already just by being me.

The guy didn't take me seriously. I didn't blame him when he started chuckling. "So you're the other woman, aren't you? Well, well, Doctor, you have quite the eye for female companionship. Both stunners and quite the troublemakers."

"She's got nothing to do with this!" The Doctor snapped. "I don't even know what she's doing up here. She won't be trouble, she's useless. Worse than useless. Emotions all over the place. I don't think you'll get anything …."

Computer screens suddenly began spazzing out, snapping the guy's head and attention away from me. "Someone's disengaged the safety!" One screen flipped to a shot that remained clear. "Who's that?"

My arm nearly vibrated out of its socket. I glanced down as the room started to shake.

_SETTING 2381.23/b._

A setting? The screwdriver! With my pulse skyrocketing into overdrive, I turned the blasted thing over and over, finally discovering an almost invisible set of dials. I didn't know which way to turn them since there were no notches to tell me otherwise. Instinct had me flipping them one way and the other until I just … felt … that I'd found the right one. How I'd gotten that setting or even how I knew didn't matter at the moment. Perhaps the TARDIS had done more to my head than I realized.

The consoles exploded, sending the man even further away and giving me the chance I needed. Rushing across the distance, I aimed the screwdriver at the Doctor's manacle-things and hoped for the best.

"What?" Rose yelped, eyes wide. "What are you doing with that?"

"Exactly what I hoped she'd do," the Doctor grinned as he popped free. He snatched the screwdriver from my hand. "Took your time, though," he added before turning towards the man. "Oi, mate, want to bank on a certainty? Massive heat in a massive body, massive bang. See you in the headlines!"

Before I could protest, I found my arm almost yanked out of its socket as the Doctor took both my hand and Rose's and scrambled from the room. I flinched as something … or some_one_ exploded behind me, almost tripping me over my own feet. The Doctor's firm grip kept me on my feet, though, so I didn't complain about it or how rude he'd been.

The Doctor hurried over to where Cathica still lay in the chair with the light streaming into her head. Releasing Rose's hand, he snapped loud enough to make me wince. The portal in Cathica's head closed and her eyelids fluttered open.

The nerves I felt coming off of her had me freeing myself from the Doctor's grip so I could reach over to touch her arm. "Are you okay?"

"Uh … yeah." Cathica frowned, dazed and confused as her brain no doubt put itself back together.

I smiled a little, then glanced back at the Doctor and Rose, who hadn't said anything.

The anger and hurt I glanced in the Doctor's eyes echoed in ever line of his tense form. Rose couldn't look at him, hunched over her crossed arms in an effort to not be noticed.

They'd been close friends, but now … it would take some serious butt-kicking to get them to mend the fence Rose had seriously smashed to pieces.


	27. Chapter 27

**A/N: I know it's been forever and a day since my last chapter. However I haven't had a break in school and have been writing this chapter on and off for a couple months in my free time. Thank you to all of you who still favorite and follow and Review every day even with my long absence! Again, I have no idea when the next chapter will come out, but I believe it'll be an original adventure! You deserve knowing that much at least. **

**Again, please read and review! **

Aftermath

"What the hell were you thinking, Rose?"

Closing the doors behind me, I cringed, feeling guilty even though none of that anger and hurt had been directed towards me. I could feel the TARDIS rumble beneath my fingertips. The lights darkened a few levels. We both knew that it would get ugly if I left them alone. Hopefully having a third person around would keep the uproar to a minimum.

A little taken aback, Rose froze and took a few seconds before saying anything in reply. "I said I was sorry …."

"Do you realize what that boyfriend of yours could have done?" The Doctor snapped, gripping onto the console as if it had become the only thing holding him back. A confused, dumbfounded, hurt grimace crashed over his face. "The only TARDIS left in existence—all this energy, all this knowledge—and you gave him the key without even thinking about the consequences."

"For one, he wasn't my boyfriend! How was I to know that he'd wander off and do something stupid?"

The Doctor snorted and shook his head, a bitter smirk twisting his lips. "Think about it: his last job was taking alien knowledge, alien technology, and selling it to the highest bidder. Taken to the year two-hundred thousand? It's a playground for people like him. _You_ should've known better."

"I trusted him …."

"Well that was the biggest mistake of your life."

"At least I tried to give him a chance since you'd clearly made your mind up about him!" Rose's voice reached an all new octave of ticked off. Hands on her hips, she stalked forward, but a look from the Doctor brought her to a dead stop. "Besides he didn't give away anything…."

"Only because the two people who knew about us got blown up. Next time you do something stupid like that we might not be so lucky." The darkness rolling off of him yanked at my warning bells. If he continued to lash out at her, he'd do something horrible and their bond and friendship would be forever ruined.

I clenched my jaw. Even though I agreed that Rose had been incredibly stupid to trust Adam that much, I had to be the mediator. I shut out their feelings, letting only my disapproval come over me. Rose wouldn't be able to notice it besides the obvious, but hopefully it would make the Doctor pause long enough to pound some sense into that thick skull of his.

Stretching my legs so I could put myself between the two of them, I endured the heat of both their glares with a patient one of my own. In truth, I wanted to yell at them that they were both idiots, but no. If I'd learned anything from the Doctor about my abilities, it was to trust what I felt would and wouldn't work. Yelling would only make things even worse. "Look, it's been a long day. Yes, Rose made a mistake…."

The smug grin made its notorious and irritating reappearance on his face. "There, you see? At least someone else…."

"…_but_," I added with my best scolding look, which I doubted threatened the Doctor very much. "She said she's sorry, so you both should drop it for today. You're starting to sound like spoiled brats." Well, there went my councilor mode, but I couldn't help it. They _were_ acting like kids who who'd listen to the other person but not hear them.

"What did …."

"But he…."

I snapped my fingers, cutting both of them off. "Go cool off until you can talk like adults. _Please_." I let my barriers down a little more. Even if it was to make the Doctor leave Rose alone for a few minutes. Or hours. I didn't care.

A minute passed and the two still didn't seem willing to move. Before I could march over to either of them and drag them away, the TARDIS herself grumbled so loud, I winced. The lights darkened for a few moments before everything quieted down again.

Now I couldn't be sure if the annoyance I felt came from me or the TARDIS. "There, you see? Now you've gone and upset the TARDIS," I sighed. "Personally, I don't want to get stranded when she gets mad, so can you just _please_ let it go for tonight?"

Though the Doctor's face had set into that rock-solid stubbornness I'd come to expect from him, I noticed his eyes flickering between me and the TARDIS console and back. Not at Rose, though, so at least he hadn't stayed in arguing mode. Very reluctantly, and with a motion like a stork, he nodded. Just one brisk movement.

"Fine," Rose grumbled. She took off at once down a hallway. Who knew where the TARDIS would lead her. Hopefully to her room.

In the dead silence that all but exploded in the room once she'd disappeared. I sighed, massaging my head, only a little grateful that everything had grown more manageable again. Not calm by any means, though. Glancing over at the Doctor sent a whirlwind of chaos at me. Almost enough to make me stagger if I hadn't braced myself. Did the Doctor know he was bleeding so much raw emotions? Probably not, I realized as he paced around and around the console hitting things with more force than necessary.

Nope. Not hanging around him until he cooled off. "I'm going to bed, Doctor," I murmured. I couldn't tell if he heard me or not, but at that point, I didn't care. As long as I kept enough calm for the two of them combined. "Don't break anything when I'm gone, okay?"

Walking past him, I let my hand rest on his arm. Just for a moment since I didn't need to be an empath to know he wouldn't appreciate anything longer. Even so, I opened my barriers almost completely, letting him feel my reassurance. Perhaps that would calm him.

All I got was a guttural half-grunt as I walked away.

I thought it best that I left the two alone, though I wanted to go to Rose and defend the Doctor's actions. If my trust had been broken in such a way, I would be furious, too. However, I didn't want to mess something up and end up having the both of them hate me or even worse, ruin their friendship for good. No, I wouldn't forgive myself if that happened. Instead, I let my feet and the TARDIS send me to my warm and very, very comfy bed.

What felt like seconds later, I got jolted awake by a shout. Very much like the one not a few nights ago. The lights had turned on in my room and the door stood wide open. I didn't even curse the TARDIS for waking me up so early. The Doctor needed me.

Once again, I found that our rooms had been moved next to each other's. With the cool floor curling my toes, I slipped into his room, not allowing my eyes to wander. Not when he thrashed and kicked in the throes of a nightmare. Seeing the strong and confident Time Lord so…terrified should have scared me. Crossing the room, I felt nothing but worry and … some other warm fuzzy things that I didn't have time to analyze.

I winced when I reached his side of the bed. The raw emotion seething around him battered at my barriers like a mallet being wielded by a blind man. Sometimes the emotions grazed off of my mind, others they slammed into them with a force I could barely hold back. All sour and rotten like a road-kill I'd passed on the highway once. I knew with an eerie certainty that the incident back on that space station had opened a whole TARDIS full of worms inside his mind.

Remembering how he reacted the last time, I avoided the worst of his flailing and rested the tips of my fingers on his head, which, in the light of that candle-ball-thing glistened with sweat. Though my heart felt ready to explode at any moment, I shoved that worry aside as I opened myself fully. "It's okay, Doctor. You're safe on the TARDIS. Nothing's going to happen. You're safe." I didn't know what caused me to start murmuring to him, but they felt right.

As I started running my hand over the worry lines on his forehead, it seemed to calm him somewhat. At least, I no longer had to worry about him hitting me, though he had a long ways to go until he became fully calm. I didn't notice the time passing. I just ran my hand over his head like my Mom used to do and rested my other one on his arm. Anything to get him out of whatever hell had taken over his mind. Slowly, much more so than the last time, his thrashing died down, but the frown still worried his face. I placed on hand in his own, bracing myself for any amount of pain. I'd let him squeeze until he could relax.

Nothing happened. Worried just a little, I glanced down to find that the Doctor's fingers had curled gently around my own. For a moment I thought my heart had stopped beating. Even in his worst nightmare, the Doctor still tried not to hurt me. Before I could second guess my actions, I brought his hand to my lips and placed a gentle kiss on it. At once, I had a furious blush unlike any other and I lowered our hands again. His breathing had calmed, but I could barely get my own to work properly.

_Stupid emotions will get the better of me._

That didn't mean I regretted it. Not one bit. No matter what happened, I'd never regret staying with the Doctor.


	28. Chapter 28

**A/N: Well, I know it's been forever and a day since I posted anything in this story, but I've gotten a recent dose of inspiration so I thought I'd get something up while I'm thinking about it. Again, I love all of you who still favorite and follow even though I haven't posted in forever. Gives me enough of a mental boost to keep trying. **

**Anyway, this is part one of … three original chapters where Jessica has a little adventure on her own. After these, however, it's on to "Father's Day." Can't wait to do that one and show you what would happen with Jessica involved. **

**Any reviews would be helpful and might make me pump these out faster.**

MY OWN LITTLE ADVENTURE

PART ONE

I prided myself on being an extremely patient person. With the Doctor, I had to be. So I gave the two of them some space, even though I wanted to get them to talk sooner rather than later. Time and space would make it easier to cool down and to talk again without arguing.

At least, that had been my original idea.

I hadn't thought it would dragon on for two days. Two days! We didn't go anywhere for a distraction that might prove more effective in getting them to talk. All I managed to get from them when I did talk to them consisted only of grunts (from the Doctor) and short "don't bother me" type answers (Rose had mastered them). When I reached out to sense their emotions, they were so frosty that I almost got brain freeze just from standing near them.

And they didn't look like they were in any hurry to change that.

Two days with no one but the TARDIS to talk to. While I could feel her emotions as different from my own, they still felt like one-sided conversations. No words but my own and a very strong sense of her growing impatience. She never stopped rumbling around me, growing louder all the time. The Doctor, as usual, didn't seem to notice. Rose didn't even listen to the TARDIS' sounds in the first place so that didn't surprise me. They kept sulking like kids, too stubborn to even consider that they were wrong.

Our patience grew shorter and shorter.

The night of day two, however, proved to be the breaking point. For both of us.

The lights in the console room flickered when I emerged from the TARDIS infirmary, massaging an aching hand. Another of the Doctor's horrific nightmares had him gripping my hand so hard, I'd felt something crack. Nothing the TARDIS couldn't fix, but it still ached horribly. "You and me both, girl," I mumbled as I perched on the couch. My over-sized shirt and baggy sweatpants pooled around me. Perhaps pajamas weren't the best clothes to be running around the ship with, but I didn't care anymore. "If you have any ideas _puhlease _let me know, cause I have none."

Instead of silence like I expected, the whole room plunged into darkness save for the glowing central column. A presence grew so strong in the corner of my mind, I grunted, pressing my hands to my head. Without a doubt, I knew that the TARDIS was doing more than sending me her emotions. It burned like a thousand suns in the corner of my mind. Just that fragment of herself had me trembling, but I didn't feel afraid. She wouldn't give me anything I couldn't handle.

"Okay, gorgeous, you've got my attention," I groaned, standing up and looking around. "What do you want…."

"…me to do?" I finished, but I no longer stood where I had been. My hand pulled back on a lever without my control, sending the whole ship into convulsions. For a second, I couldn't get my body to work and I fell onto the floor. The couch stood on the other side of the room and I didn't remember walking over or touching anything. Running my hand through my shaggy mess of hair, I knew with instinct that there could be only one solution:

The TARDIS had taken away my memory of whatever we did.

Strangely, I didn't mind the blank spot in my memory. The sense I got from the TARDIS bordered on preening, she felt that satisfied with what we'd done. Well, if it got the Doctor and Rose talking again, I didn't see the need to complain about her tampering.

"What the hell did you touch?" Unfortunately the Doctor didn't seem to be in the best mood as he came storming out. It didn't seem to matter that I'd just spent several hours trying to calm him down. The storm on his face undid all of my work. He shrugged his jacket on as he stalked around the console. "What did you do to the TARDIS?"

I huffed, annoyed that he didn't offer to help me up, but I couldn't really blame him. I'd messed with his "baby" after all. "Me? Why do you think I had anything to do with this?" Shaking my head, I gathered myself to stand up.

"Simple! You're the only one in the room, now tell me what you did!"

"I'd love to, Doctor, but I can't…ow." A white-hot poker jabbed into my head, sending me back onto my knees. I clenched my teeth, but white spots kept appearing in in my sight even with my eyes closed. "Ow, thanks a lot, TARDIS," I mumbled as the pain started fading. Not fast enough for my liking, though.

At once, I felt the Doctor's hands grip my shoulders. Concern bleeding from him in great amounts whether he was aware of it or not. "Jessica? What's wrong?" that tone had done a complete one-eighty from where it had been. That whole other side of the Doctor that lay beneath the mask of tough, crusty spikes.

With my blush starting to make its blotchy appearance, I managed to get back on my feet with his help. "Oh, just something from the TARDIS, I think. Probably keeping me from remembering what she had me do." I tried to wave that concern aside, but the frown on the Doctor's face turned out to be just as stubborn as he was. "It's going away now, don't worry."

The Doctor went pale and I didn't imagine it. His grip on my arms tightened almost painfully. "What are…the TARDIS was in your mind? Are you sure?"

I snorted. "Pretty darn. Hard to mistake a bright light in your head that would put the sun to shame." When the Doctor went quiet for a longer time, I frowned, trying to read what flashed in front of his eyes. "She didn't hurt me, Doctor. Not more than I can handle, anyway. What's wrong?"

"Nothing. Everything." The Doctor ran a hand over his head and paced away, as if having trouble processing the fact. "The TARDIS shouldn't be able to just…you'd burn up. You'd…." He kept pacing, the stress coming off of him making me tense up.

I couldn't just let him worry himself into a fit. Striding over, I rested a hand on his arm, stopping him in his tracks. "Doctor, stop. I might have a bit of a headache later, but other than that, she didn't hurt me."

"But, why?"

Perfect. "That I can answer for you. You and Rose are both acting like children. We're sick and tired of you being so stubborn. It's not good for either of you."

"Jessica…."

"No, Doctor, you listen for once." I fought to reign in my frustration in order to keep a tone that the Doctor would hear. "You're her friend. Yes, she made a mistake, a big one, but you can't just shut her out like that. I'm not asking for you to forgive her, per se. That's none of my business, but just _talk _to her. Please?" When the Doctor's eyes met mine, I managed to hold that gaze.

The Doctor's jaw clenched and unclenched as we stood there. His eyes drifted away, that stubbornness already creeping in again.

"Please, Doctor," I pleaded, pulling my hand away but remaining close. "The TARDIS misses you. And so do I."

It took so much effort to not touch him in a reassuring way as he stood there looking so lost and forlorn. My emotions screamed at me to do something. Just as loudly, my common sense demanded that any such action would completely ruin the purpose. I hated "tough love."

Eventually he sighed, looking utterly defeated for once, but in a way that I knew would be good for him in the long run. Even if he didn't know it yet. He ran a hand over his head yet again. "Fine, then can we drop it? This isn't what I had planned for the day. Not by a long shot."

Now I let myself grin like an idiot and launched myself at him. I gave him a pouncing bear hug before he could defend himself. "We'll do more than drop it," I murmured into his ear, letting him feel the strength of my emotions towards him. All but one anyway. "Thank you, Doctor. This will be easier than you think, I promise."

Instead of an awkward pat on the back like expected, the Doctor's arms rested lightly around me. Still very stiff and awkward, though, but it was without a doubt an actual hug. "Sure, you say that now and I get smacked in the face later. If I do, it's your fault." That seemed to be the end of his willingness to contact. While he did let go rather quickly, he didn't back away either.

I snorted, trying to cover an almost Rose-like giggle. Letting him go felt like tearing Band-Aids off my arms. "So you're not…."

"Not what? Angry that you messed with the TARDIS?" The Doctor's stupid, relieving grin lit up his face. "Nah. When the old girl wants something, no one can get in her way. Not even as you as fantastic as you are."

My blush returned with a vengeance. Why did he have to look at me like that? It just made it harder to ignore my own feelings and keep them from him. Scrambling to keep my cool, I nudged him with my elbow as I walked by. "Not as fantastic as that. I'm just little old human me." My body betrayed me, though and I gave into the urge to wink.

I winked. At the Doctor. What in the name of time and space was going on with me?

"Oi! Where are you off to?" The Doctor protested, a mockingly suspicious frown not quite hiding the smile pulling on his lips. "If you're going to cause trouble again…."

"I'm not!" Came an indignant yelp that felt almost real. I pivoted, walking backwards with a dramatic expression and a hand over my heart. "Honestly, Doctor, I try and help you and all you think of is me getting into trouble? Whatever gave you that idea?"

"Simple; you hang around me too much. I tend to wear off on people."

And you have no humility whatsoever," came as an all too easy counter attack. I paused short of the doorway, though and went serious for a moment. "I'm going to get Rose from wherever we put her. Shouldn't take long at all once she knows you're going to talk, at least."

The Doctor made a face like a petulant child, but nodded regardless. "Can't believe I let you talk me into this. Why do I keep you around?"

I opened my mouth for some smart alek retort, but the TARDIS rocked again. My feet flew out from under me and I fell backwards into the hallway.

Only to see the entrance to the console room vanish. Only a solid wall remained.


	29. Chapter 29

**A/N: And here's yet another chapter! I'm surprised I managed to get this done so fast. :D Considering I start work at 4 am now and I'm very tired by the time I get home, I'm so happy I didn't run out of creative juices!**

**Special thanks goes out to SwingingOnAStar for all her helpful comments, reviews, and the nerding back and forth we've done over the past week. It's helped me stay on track and reminded me to keep writing no matter what!**

**Any reviews will be helpful and very much appreciated! Thanks and enjoy!**

My Own Little Adventure

Part Two

"Ow," I grumbled, lurching to my feet. I pressed my hand to the sore spot on the back of my head, wincing as the dull ache intensified. "A little warning next time, please, girl?"

All I sensed from the TARDIS was intense satisfaction and more than a little hint of mischief. No apologies whatsoever. Figures.

_"Jessica…."_

I inhaled sharply as the Doctor's worry-filled mind jabbed at my own. My gaze drew to the new wall between us and I gently touched the weird texture with my hand. An instinct probably connected with his mind in mine or just my empathy told me that our hands would be touching had that wall not been there. Right, how did telepathy work again?

_"Ouch, Doctor. I'm okay, but can you just knock a little quieter next time?"_ Just think the thoughts, then. Kind of like talking to myself in my own head, but directed towards something that was definitely not me. _"I think the TARDIS isn't done with whatever we started."_

The Doctor's grumble brought a grin to my face. _"I thought the game was messing with the controls, not rearranging the dimensions of the TARDIS. Are you sure you don't remember what you did?"_ Although I knew he tried to keep his emotions under the usual control, I could feel the strength of his worry beneath the mask of annoyance. At least he hadn't gotten really mad at me yet.

I rested my forehead against the wall. _"Sorry. I'm afraid I'm Miss Useless over here. Don't even know where in the TARDIS I am right now." _

_"Just stop it right there."_ The vehemence in the Doctor's rebuke almost stopped my heart in surprise. Such a strong reaction from him didn't bother me, but to have that fierceness like that…about me…. "_You're hardly useless. Tell me what the TARDIS looks like and I might be able to talk you back here. Hopefully in one piece."_

_"What about Rose? She's got to be worried sick"_

I could hear the Doctor's snort as clearly as if he stood in the room. _"She's most likely stuck in her room. She's fine."_

_"Doctor…."_

_"Oh, fine. I'll go get her. Let me see if I can get the intercom working. That way none of you can get into trouble without me knowing."_ As irritated as his voice had become, I didn't need to be an expert to hear that worry directed towards Rose. Just a little bit and with no small amount of stubbornness, but he would apologize to Rose in his own way. _"Will you be all right until then?"_

My furious blush rekindled and I thanked the TARDIS for putting a wall between us so the Doctor couldn't see it. As best as I could, I gave his mind a gentle, friendly push away like a nudge. _"Doctor, I'm on the TARDIS. I couldn't be safer. Thanks for asking, though."_

A spike of emotion left a warm, spicy taste in my mouth before the Doctor's mind left. One emotion that I couldn't untangle yet it still left me short of breath and warm all over.

Well, the Doctor did have a soft spot beneath that crusty exterior. I'd always known he had one, but he had never willingly shown it that much. A happy sigh rushed out of me as I turned to rest my back against the wall. All the Doctor and Rose needed was a sticky situation to fix their relationship and all would be well with the universe again.

"Way to go, sexy old girl," I ended up giggling.

"Uh, excuse me?" Rose's indignant yelp blasted into existence. "What did you call me?"

Unable to hide a squeak of my own, I briefly entertained the idea of beating the Doctor's head for his lousy timing. "Not you, Rose, the TARDIS," I hastily reassured the invisible blonde. "I didn't know the Doctor had the intercom fixed already!"

"Oi!" Will you two shut it for one minute!" Even shouting himself, the Doctor couldn't come near our female decibels. "If you want to screech at each other, can you save it until _after_ I fix the TARDIS? It's hard enough to think when the two of you are quiet."

Rose huffed loud enough to carry throughout the ship. "So you managed to break our ride. Why am I not surprised? I could've sworn you locked me in my room on purpose." Okay, she definitely had some bitterness left over.

"For your information, Rose Tyler, I happened to be asleep when Jessica worked her mischief."

"Jessie? What?"

"Well, to be honest, it was the TARDIS' idea the whole time," I cringed even though I knew they couldn't reach me. It felt just like I'd stepped into the middle of a crossfire. "We got fed up with you arguing—well, not talking at all, in this case—and she…um…told me what to do. And no, I don't remember what we did or how to fix it."

"Ah, there I can help." With the energy filling the Doctor's voice, I could just see him running around with his screwdriver like a madman. He made a very, very irritated noise on the other end a few seconds later, though. "Well congratulations, Jessica Gale, you've rearranged the entire layout of the TARDIS. I can barely recognize her now, thank you very much."

"Rearranged? What do you mean, rearranged?" There, that curiosity that made Rose join the Doctor in the first place completely overwhelmed the anger she still had. Well, that and a healthy dose of concern, of course. "How can the TARDIS get rearranged just like that?"

"Easy. Well, not really easy if you think about the science involved, but the TARDIS does it all the time. How else do you get from your room to the kitchen so quickly? Normally she does that in a way you won't notice but this?" The image that flashed in my mind at that tone involved a very serious expression and maybe rubbing his hands over his face.

"So…what happens if I step out my door now?"

"You'd be in the library, I think. Ah," the Doctor paused. I could almost feel the anxiety through the wall behind me. "You're technically safe for now, Rose. Jessica, where did the TARDIS send you?"

Right. Why hadn't I taken a look around earlier? I finally focused on my surroundings and grinned as another wave of relief took me. "Well, the lights could be brighter, but I think I'm in a…closet?" I risked a few steps forward and nearly had my eyes pop out of my head and my jaw hit the floor. As far as I could see, both up and down, the "closet" seemed to go on forever. "Correction; a closet that could swallow a jet liner whole and have room for I don't know how many more. Jeez, Doctor, how many clothes does a Time Lord need, anyway?"

"Seriously?" I could almost see the mischievous look on Rose's face. "He's got a whole wardrobe and didn't say anything?"

"Oi! Remember that dress you wore for Charles Dickens? The TARDIS plucked it from there." A little annoyed by clothes-talk, maybe, but at least the Doctor sounded calmer now. "Jessica, whatever you do, do _not_ leave that room until I get Rose back here. No exploring, got it?"

"Why, Doctor? What happens?"

"And don't sugar-coat it," I added sternly. My mind, however, had already started imagining all sorts of things outside the room I'd ended up in. How I could get indefinitely lost if the TARDIS had a mind to do that.

The Doctor sighed. "As fantastic as the TARDIS is, there are plenty of places even I don't know about. The ones I _do_ are mostly harmless for humans so there's no problem there. A few though…." When he trailed off, I could hear the dead-seriousness beneath those words. "A few aren't even safe for a Time Lord, let alone a couple of simple, fragile humans. I don't want you or Rose to walk into those on accident, Jessica. That's not a risk I'm willing to take. Neither should you."

I bit my lip, the urge to look around dying a horrible death. The Doctor had never sounded so scared of his own ship, his only companion till Rose and I. While it made me somewhat reassured that he didn't know anything, it didn't make me feel any safer, either. None of those thoughts made their way out, though. "Okay, in other words, stay away from bright, shiny objects and hallways. Got it. Mind if I at least browse the infinite closet while I'm waiting? I'll be bored otherwise."

"Fine, just don't make a mess."

I laughed a little. "I think you beat me to that, Doctor, this place seriously needs a maid or something."

"Jessica…."

"I know, I know. Shutting up now." I shrugged and just wandered through the mounds and isles of clothes. Rose and the Doctor started jabbering at each other, washing over me as I browsed the insane amounts of clothes from every era. I couldn't even see them all clearly, so many colors and shapes pulled at my attention. What did the Doctor need with so many things? Sure, he lived for a long time, but did he really need an infinite amount? I could see more than a few female clothes scattered around, so I knew they weren't his. How many women had he traveled with in the past?

_~Doctor!~_

A sudden mental scream had me tripping over an absurdly long, multi-colored scarf. The garishness didn't bother me. I could barely think past the disorienting muck that the scream left in its wake.

"Ow," I muttered, barely remembering to keep my voice down so the Doctor wouldn't get concerned.

Too late. "Jessica? What happened?" The Doctor's concern reached out to my own mind. That comforting touch blew away the muck like it didn't exist in the first place.

I frowned. Hadn't he heard that? His mind was so much more advanced than my own, surely that hadn't slipped his notice. Well, if he didn't notice it, I wouldn't worry him more than I had to. "Oh, just tripped over some stupid scarf you left lying around." I forced a chuckle, holding that thick scarf in my hands for a little bit. The sensations I felt coming off of it didn't feel like the Doctor I knew. Someone more quirky, perhaps, and a lot younger. "How in the heck did you wear this thing? It's, like, ten feet long!"

I could clearly hear Rose's giggle.

The Doctor gave a frustrated growl. "Put that down, please and be more careful. Don't wander off, either!"

"Yessir, mister Time Lord, sir!"

Once I knew the Doctor and Rose were busy navigating once again, I dropped that fake smile. Quivering hands folded up that scarf before I regained my feet. My curiosity had been triggered no matter what the Doctor warned. Where had that mental voice come from?

_~Don't try and stop me, Doctor, please. I can't go back there and I don't want to hurt you.~_

So much heart-ripping agony saturated me, I felt tears burning in my eyes. My gut twisted, either with that woman's emotions or my own, I couldn't tell. A breath of air on my cheek made me turn around. The TARDIS had opened a hallway that led to a pulsing room. One that drew me forward step by slow step. I didn't put any thought into walking forward, either. The pull I felt within my chest throbbed and slowly overcame my common sense. I didn't want to go back, to stay put like the Doctor wanted. I had to know more.

_~I know, Em, I know. I'm not here to stop you. Not like that.~_ Although the voice didn't sound familiar, I knew without a doubt that the second voice belonged to the Doctor. He still felt the same no matter what he probably looked or sounded like back then. _~Why are you doing this?~_

_~They…they want me dead, Doctor. It's the Council, they tried to kill me.~_

~_They wouldn't dare,~_ came a growl I knew all too well. A sound that threatened great harm to anyone who crossed him. _~Forcing you to regenerate….~_

_~No, you don't get it, Doctor.~_ The woman took a pain-filled breath, one that I could almost feel as my own. I could almost sense how much effort it took for her to remain on her two feet. _~If you hadn't crashed into the building, they…with what they had planned, I would _never_ regenerate again.~_

I froze, becoming aware of the river of tears cascading down my face. I didn't know what she meant by regeneration, but the way she said it…Could the Time Lords have wanted her dead that much? What had that woman, Em, done to deserve being killed by a race billions of years older than humans?

Wait, 'Em?' My eyes widened as that name finally registered. The Doctor had called me that once. Back when he tried to shield me from the Dalek. Could the woman I'd been hearing be that same person?

"Jessica, I've got Rose and the TARDIS is starting to behave again. And by 'behave' I mean she's realigning herself back to a safer configuration." The Doctor's present voice sounded muffled and far away, like trying to hear someone when both ears had been plugged up. "There should be a door a floor down that'll take you to the kitchen."

I shook my head slowly. A half-hearted attempt to clear it. How did words work again? Somehow, I'd forgotten how to speak for a minute.

My pause caught the Doctor's attention. "Jessica? Did you hear that?" His worry became a sour tingle in my mouth. Enough to pull me loose from the bog around my mind.

"Um…yeah. Went through a door already. I think." Words came slow and my tongue felt thick but at least I made sense.

"What happened to staying put? I told you not to go wandering off."

"TARDIS opened one," I mumbled, feeling as if I'd just gotten out of bed. Still more than three-quarters asleep and the bog pulling my mind back under with each passing second. "Voices in my head. Followed them. Can't…."

"Doctor, what's wrong with her?"

Something—perhaps the Doctor—pounded heavily against my mind. Demanding to get in. I ignored it, the draw taking me towards a room of blinding white light.

"Damn, her mind's closed off. I can't reach her that way." Fear gave a new kind of life to his words. "Jessica! Jessica you stop listening to those voices right now. Block them out of your mind until I get there, please!"

Why did his voice sound so far away?

"I…I can't, I…."

Pain, but not my own sliced through me. I gasped as the woman cried out in my mind.

"Doctor, she's hurt."

"No, no, no! Jessica, don't loose yourself in it!" Now fear morphed into pure panic. "Listen to my voice, Jessica, fight it!"

"Oh my God, Doctor, she's dying. You need to…." My voice was stolen away as ghost hands caught me in their embrace.


	30. Chapter 30

**A/N: Thank you to all you readers for your patience concerning this book! I've had some concerns with pacing the coming last third of this book plus real life kicked into high gear and for a time I lost my DW mood. With Christopher Eccleston's birthday today, I realized it's only appropriate to finish this chapter and put it up today, seeing as it's still a very Doctor 9 centered story so far. Let me know what you think!**

**Thank you also to all the reviewers and readers who see that I haven't updated in a while but still favorite and follow me and the story anyway. Your dedication encourages me that I'm on the right track. Thanks so much!**

My Own Little Adventure

Part 3

_ "Magpie! Em!" The Doctor cradled me as he lowered me onto the cold floor. "You're okay, Em. Just take it easy."_

_ Regret burned almost as intensely as the growing fire inside. "Sorry. I thought I ducked in time. Just get me to the infirmary and get out of here, okay? They can't find you here." My hand reached up to touch a smooth face covered in dampness, be it tears or sweat, I couldn't tell. _

_ Shaking fingers brushed hair from my forehead. "I can't leave you like this, Em. I can't. You could get stuck like last time."_

_ "But if Rassilon catches you here…"_

_ "If he's responsible for this, then I hope he finds me," The Doctor growled, so furious that I feared for anyone who got in his way. Not like the boy I knew since childhood. "No one tries to kill you and gets away with it. Not on my watch."_

_ Alarm for him drove any pain away from my mind. "No. No you can't. It's not your nature, Doctor. You don't go after others for revenge."_

_ "But, Em, they…"_

_ "No!" The outburst sent such pain through me that I seized up in his arms with a harsh cry. He held onto me tightly until I could talk again. When I could, I could barely hear myself. "Don't…don't hurt anyone because of me, please. Why else did you choose 'Doctor?'" I tried to smile, brushing his face with my fingers. "Tell me."_

_ Slowly the Doctor shook his head. "This doesn't have anything to do…."_

_ "Tell me, Doctor."_

"Doctor, she's not moving. Or blinking, for that matter. What's going on?"

"She's been caught in one of the TARDIS' memories. A very strong, empathic-based one. No wonder she couldn't help herself. She's not reacting to me at all. I don't…"

"I know that face. What do you have in mind?"

"In order to pull her out, I'm going to have to break down every one of the barriers in her mind."

"Well, that's not so bad."

"Rose, she'll be even more vulnerable than when we found her in the bathroom. There will be nothing protecting her. It's worse than stripping the human body of the immune system. It could damage her permanently."

"Oh. Well…what would she want? I know I'd rather trust you with my life than risk being killed by a memory. Jessie…."

"Would take the risk."

"What do you want me to do?"

"For now stay as far away from us as you can. Any hint of emotion will be like pouring salt in a wound until I can fix her again. I'm sorry, Jessica, but I can't lose you."

_"Never cruel or cowardly," the Doctor's voice broke as the words tore themselves away. He held me in an almost painful embrace and had started rocking back and forth. _

_ A tear fell out of the corner of my eye. "Doctor, you need to go." The burning inside me had become almost impossible to resist. My skin had started to glow, illuminating the air between us. "The universe needs a Doctor, not a Magpie like me."_

_ "Don't ask me to do that, Em. I can't. I promised I wouldn't leave you behind and I sure as hell won't break that promise now. We'll leave Gallifrey and…"_

_ A TARDIS thrummed vibrated the floor, growing in magnitude. I brought the Doctor's head closer, brushing my lips to his._

"Jessica."

Something…I knew that voice.

Where had I heard it before?

_"Remember those words, Doctor and try to remember me too. I'll come back."_

_ The TARDIS whirled to life. I could hear the Doctor's screaming as he faded away, leaving me alone in the TARDIS._

"Jessica, come back. Please." A blazing light shone just at the corner of my eye. "Don't leave me alone. I couldn't…couldn't live with myself if I lost you too." Pure strong emotion slammed into me, as effective as a slap across the face. So much fiery care and loving devotion that it mentally stunned me.

"I…what…" Tearing my mind away and toward that bright light felt as slow and painful as peeling a band-aid off my arm. Slow but inevitable. I wanted to respond to that voice. One I could almost remember.

A body began to appear in that light. Just a shape, with one hand extended. "That's my girl. Ignore the memories and listen to me. You are the first person to…see me like you do in a long time. I don't deserve it and I sure as hell don't deserve you. Just…please, Jessica. Stop listening to the memories. Come back towards me."

I knew that voice, the man who pleaded with me. The pull of the memory began fading away as I stretched out my hand. A face I trusted implicitly appeared with the body. The Doctor. Reaching out towards me. Our hands clasped and in one blink, I was wrenched from those memories back to my own mind.

At once my legs gave out from under me, all the strength sending me towards the floor. I didn't even sink a few inches before I found myself wrapped in the Doctor's supporting embrace. "Easy there," the Doctor murmured, letting the two of us kneel on the floor. "You're free of it now. It was just a memory, Jessica. Just a memory but you're safe. Look at me?"

Feeling a breath away from shattering into a million pieces, I lifted my head as the Doctor's fingers reached down and guided it upwards. Gentle yet fearful eyes met my own. A glimmer similar to tears shone in the light around us. "D-doctor?" I could barely hear or recognize my own voice, even though my lips moved.

The pale cast to his face regained some color. A weak and failed attempt at a smile fluttered on his face. "There we go. Don't …. don't try to do anything right now," his soft words contained no awkwardness from misuse. "Focus on me until…."

That familiar voice, those words that carried such a comforting blanket of warmth and safety, utterly demolished the last traces of control I possessed. The tears just burst out of me in spite of a deeper wish to not let the Doctor see me like that. I couldn't help it; the woman's anguish over leaving the Doctor and even feeling the Doctor's own pain of abandonment just ate at me. I felt mentally naked, stripped bare by whatever the TARDIS had just shown me. The Doctor proved to be the great rock that centered me, kept me from letting that memory sweep me away again.

He didn't tense up as I bawled my eyes out into his jacket. Didn't retreat from that display of emotion like he normally would have. Just held onto me as if worried I'd drift away if he let me go, giving in to a very slight rocking motion. He didn't even say anything to get me to stop sooner, letting me release everything that the memory had drug out of me.

The Doctor pressed his lips against the side of my head.

I had no idea how long we sat there until I managed to pull myself back under control. What felt like hours could have only been a few minutes, but even so, the Doctor didn't rush me, try to get me to cheer up. For once, I felt grateful that he didn't. It took so much effort to focus on him right in front of me and to put the tears away that I didn't know if I could take a sassy comment from him. My mind felt so weak, disoriented. Like it would shatter again if I thought too hard. I didn't even want to let go of him. Shock, some people would call it. At the moment, I felt as numb and helpless as a broken robot.

Knowing how the Doctor felt about close contact, though, I did make an effort to let him go no matter how much I didn't want to.

"No, no, no," The Doctor pulled me close again, voice only a fraction louder than a quiet murmur. "I'm sorry, Jessica, but I had to take every one of your barriers down to reach you. You were in too deep so I had no choice. You've never been like this—even when you were born you had some protection—I'm keeping you shielded best I can until I can fix that. Works better if we keep in contact, okay?"

Honestly? Taking even a step away from him terrified me. I bit my lip and nodded a little. Tried to find something to ease his worry, if not my own. "Um…can we stand up or something? The floor's freezing." With every breath and syllable, I felt close to breaking apart again. Never to be put back together. I couldn't even be upset with the Doctor for brining me to that state.

"There's my over-emotional, bloody stubborn American who doesn't listen to me." If the Doctor tried hiding the relief in his words, it didn't work very well. I could almost see the smile on his face, though I kept mine pressed into his chest. He gave my shoulders a gentle squeeze. "Come on. Let's get you to your room. We can fix you up there."

I let the Doctor help me up and lead me away from that place. Not once did he try letting me walk solely on my own, quietly supporting me as we turned corners. Probably for the best; I had to focus all of my attention on putting one foot in front of the other. I'd let myself be embarrassed later.

The scent of burning pine washed over me as the Doctor led me into my room, which the TARDIS had moved so it only took a couple turns to get there. I took a deep breath, the familiar warmth of a fireplace bringing even more of my strength back. When the Doctor helped me sit on the bed, I let it out in a relieved sigh.

The bed dipped a little as the Doctor perched on the end next to me. "Now this might take a while, but I'll be as quick as I can. I'll try not to peek if I can help it."

With my eyes mostly closed, I couldn't tell what went over his face. No hint as to what he might be feeling. He'd sealed himself up so tight, it was as if I didn't have empathy at all. I managed a weak smile. For him. "Don't worry about it, Doctor. I trust you. Tinker around all you need to and wherever you need to."

"Ah…you might fall asleep as soon as I'm done," the Doctor sidestepped something I didn't have the energy to see, clearing his throat like he did when he started feeling uncomfortable. "Part of the mind protecting itself until your protections are back in place."

"But…." I couldn't just sleep after what I'd seen. So many questions had begun stirring in my mind, almost driving away the growing exhaustion that crept up on me with each passing second.

"I'll explain later, I promise. Now, lie down and let me fix what I broke before I make you." Just like the Doctor, trying to deflect touchy subjects with attitude, but this time it came out completely see-through. Like he had very little energy for it.

I reached out and squeezed the hand that rested on my shoulder, losing my own energy to be that stubborn American for once. "Promise we'll talk?" Now I sounded too desperate, almost whining. Too late to change that.

The Doctor gently pushed me back until my head hit the pillows.

I blacked out before I could hear him say anything.


	31. Chapter 31

**A/N: Thank you so much to everyone who read the most recent chapter! I didn't expect 400+ views in one day. Thanks so much. :D Anywho, my family and I are moving next week so I won't have internet for at least that long starting Monday. I'll get as much done as I can so hopefully by the time next weekend rolls around in March, I'll have more to share with you. **

**Please let me know what you think about the original adventures and if you want to see one more before "Father's Day" or just go to that episode? I have loads of fun planned before the end of this book, which, sadly, is closer than you might think. Soon we'll have to say goodbye to Nine. Enjoy the ride in the meantime.**

**My Own Little Adventure**

**Part Four**

I snapped awake from the deepest sleep I'd ever had. Not a gradual waking up and back to consciousness like I'd seen in the movies a thousand times, but one moment I'd been dead to the world and the next, as awake as if I'd been up for a long time. I didn't even feel disoriented seeing the log-cabin-like roof of my room overhead.

No, I realized with a sigh, rubbing my face vigorously. I remembered everything from that room. Even that memory. At least the Doctor hadn't been mean enough to hide that from me, though I wouldn't blame him if he had. Seeing such a private moment that probably had torn him up on the inside without his permission probably wasn't the best way to earn his trust. My eyes stung as flashes of emotion from that memory passed my mind's eye. Whoever this Em was, leaving the Doctor behind like that…I didn't need to be a professional empath or psychologist to know that it had been the hardest thing she had to do.

A whiff of something delicious drug my mind out of that gradual spiral downwards. I looked at the nightstand next to my bed and grinned, feeling my heart and chest warm. A fresh, steaming, mega-sized mug of what smelled like my favorite latte waited for me. I hadn't told the Doctor that caramel flavored anything was my favorite. Had he smelled that every time I had coffee near him, or had he actually been paying attention to me and just guessed? The last one had me shaking my head as I swallowed a generous mouthful. I liked to think that the Doctor and I were friends, but with his temperament and unwillingness for close contact, I doubted he would pay that much attention to a single person that way. Enough to guess what their favorite drinks were, anyway. Most likely the TARDIS had given him a major "hint" and had place my coffee next to his in the kitchen. Yes, that sounded more like the Doctor I'd grown familiar with.

I didn't know what I'd do if he actually tried to find my favorite thing on his own accord. Die of shock, more like, then wonder why I was so special.

I almost stepped out my door into the rest of the TARDIS when that musical instrument from Statten's caught my eye. Either the TARDIS placed it on the bookcase nearby or I'd done it and not remembered. In any case, I quickly tucked that into my pocket. The first bit of alien tech that I could technically call my own. A piece of comfort. My mind felt fragile, like the slightest amount of emotion would be too much. I doubted that the Doctor would leave me that vulnerable, but just like someone who'd stayed in the hospital too long, I wasn't eager to push my luck. I met nobody in the very short walk to the console room. Maybe a dozen and change steps and a corner and I found myself in it's comforting light.

"Thanks, girl," I murmured, feeling the TARDIS around me hum in approval. Like a mother tiger purring against my senses. Even the floor didn't feel as cold beneath my bare feet like I thought it would. I ran a hand across the rim of the console, a smile on my face. "I know you didn't mean to hurt me. You see all of time and space so you have to know things about me that I don't yet. So…" I trailed off, a little embarrassed at talking to a ship that I could only understand through vague emotions half the time. "So I guess I'm trying to say is I'm not mad at you or anything. I just wish I could get straight answers about me once in a while instead of all this convoluted time travel thing-a-ma-jig. You know?"

Though I didn't get an obvious mental answer like when we'd set off the chain reaction that got me into that memory room in the first place, the TARDIS did dim her lights a bit and a strong wave of…well, I hesitated to call it fondness, but it didn't feel like anything else. The TARDIS probably did nothing without a reason, but it baffled me that she felt and reacted this strongly to me at all.

Almost on automatic, I wandered over to her doors and opened them wide. An enormous, multi-colored nebula danced in space, seeming to stretch forever in all directions. It took my breath away as I perched on her doorstep without fear of falling off. Four long sips of coffee did nothing to help me wrap my head around what I'd seen, so I reached into my pocket and dug out that little device. I turned it over a little, remembering at how it had brought such a look of peace to the Doctor's face with so little effort. If only he would have those moments more often. Didn't the universe owe him that much? My fingers stilled as I tried to get those notes to come out just right. I managed to get something the first try. More notes came after, but I didn't have any set song in mind. Just the sound of those small notes helped my mind to stop spinning out of control.

"You're getting better at that."

It showed how drained my emotions had become that I didn't even flinch at the Doctor's sudden appearance behind me. Letting the last note trail off into silence, I put it back in my pocket with a shrug. "I'm not really doing much. Just tinkering, I guess. Never touched an instrument till now, actually."

"Didn't sound like it."

Though my blush exploded into existence—bringing a keen shyness that I hadn't felt with the Doctor before—I managed a smile and a shake of my head. "Doctor, I won't fall apart if you be yourself and admit that my playing is awful," I chuckled, wrapping my hands around my coffee mug and taking a deep breath again. "Plus you're being nice. That means I'm dying, you want something, or you're more worried about me than you should be."

While it didn't sound like an actual laugh, the rush of air that came out of the Doctor's lungs made me think he tried to laugh but just ended up smiling instead. Though I'd rarely seen him smile with anything but a mask or out of mischief. A waft of his very not-meant-for-human-consumption coffee brought my head around as he awkwardly joined me on the other side of the doorway.

A doorway that appeared twice as large as it used to be, otherwise we would be pressed against each other in quite the uncomfortable fashion.

Crazy man just dangled his legs into space without a care in the world; I'd only gotten the nerve to do one. He stared at the nebula for a while even with worry lines at the corners of his eyes and a frown digging deep into his forehead. Probably trying to decide what to say to me. I let him, since he didn't seem one for thought out conversations in the first place. More like he'd gotten used to blurting out whatever came to mind.

After several minutes, however, I knew I had to just break the silence with something. Anything to prod something out of him.

"This coffee is…."

"Do you remember…."

We both stared at each other with different degrees of surprise. I'd call our talking at the same time a coincidence, but since he'd been in my head the night before for who knows how long….

I sniggered and shrugged. "Sorry. You first."

The Doctor raised his eyebrow. He paused for a moment with a quirk in his lips that seemed like he would respond with something sarcastic as usual. Instead, he waited for a moment or so longer, thinking about what he would say. Like he doubted whether he should or not say something in the first place. Eventually he had the "what-the-hell" face and sighed, head bowing down under some weight. "Do you remember what the TARDIS showed you? Anything at all?"

Of course I remembered. It was trying _not_ to think about it that bothered me. I didn't admit that quite yet, focusing all of my attention on him, even putting my coffee down behind me. "You were in my head…I think. Wouldn't you have seen what I did?" The thousand and one questions that I wanted to ask him started burning away at my tongue, but I held them back. With the Doctor, I had to take it slow, gage his reactions before I chose my next questions.

"Not if the TARDIS didn't want me to." The Doctor's face soured, but a warm fondness leaked out of him regardless of the expression. "The old girl and I might have been traveling together for a while, but she still has places I haven't seen. Or she won't let me see. Hard to tell which sometimes when she's being annoying."

I snorted a bit, letting myself smile at the annoyance in the Doctor's own voice. "Well, if you stop yelling at her, maybe she'll start to respond to you better. Honestly, you two are like an old married couple."

"Oi, watch the mouth. You'll insult the TARDIS." Though the Doctor tried to retort in his usual fashion, there just wasn't enough life in it to make it convincing. "No, I was too focused on pulling you out of there to see anything, even if the TARDIS wanted me to in the first place."

"Right. Well…." I hesitated, trying to keep myself from blurting everything out the way I wanted to. I had to be very delicate, sensitive to whatever buttons I might accidentally push on him. If he took what I said the wrong way, I'd have to back off very quickly. "Um…the problem is, I don't…I don't think it's something you _want_ to remember." There, feel him out. I wanted to tell him so much, but he'd already been damaged by memories I couldn't even begin to guess at. It would be heartless of me to reopen old wounds without knowing he wanted them opened. "It probably isn't one of your best memories. At least, I think it was one of yours, but I didn't 'see' it as you." Great, now I babbled. I pressed my lips together and focused on the slowly withdrawing Time Lord next to me.

At the warning, the crack in his mental armor started to close. A reaction, perhaps, in anticipation of a blow. A steely look entered the Doctor's eyes as he shifted his position to stare at me. Oh, he'd heard the warning, all right, but his stubbornness refused to back away. "Jessica, it's my fault for not stopping you from entering that place fast enough. Any normal human would be harassing me for answers, but you…." He made a face, a mix of disapproval, sarcasm, and worry. "You're too quiet. Thinking too much."

"I'm fine, Doctor, really."

"For once, will you shut it and do what I'm asking?" The Doctor almost snapped, reigning in his temper with an effort both physically and mentally. I could feel the pace-inducing, tart flavored worry that bled from him without any effort. "I might have fixed the damage I did to your barriers but I still need to know if there's anything that I might have missed. Whatever it is, I can handle it."

My eyes burned at the earnest and stark caring that had made its way to the surface. It didn't seem forced, like he felt like it was expected of him and he didn't truly care. I didn't want to bring memories crashing down on him, but when he looked at me like that….

"Jessica, please. Trust me."

Swallowing the knot that rose up to block my throat, I nodded and took a deep breath. I clenched my hands together to keep them from potentially shaking. The Doctor wouldn't offer any comfort; it wasn't in his character. I had to tough it out like he did, pretending that it didn't affect me half as much as it really did. "I think you heard me say something about someone being hurt…or dying. I don't remember much before being pulled in. You were in the memory, but I couldn't see your face, just…I felt things like I was her for a bit. Experiencing her emotions like they were mine." Biting my lip, I debated on how I was going to phrase what happened next, then decided that there _was_ no good way to say it besides just blurting it out. "Doctor…she'd been shot, I think, and she was dying. You called her Em."


	32. Chapter 32

**A/N: I already had most of this written so here's yet another chapter for you all! :D Now I will either start "Father's Day" or just a quickie little adventure outside the TARDIS. Either way, it will now be a while before anything appears for you to read. Thank you all for your patience. **

**My Own Little Adventure **

**Part Five**

The blood draining from the Doctor's face made me instantly regret saying that name aloud. Hunched over like I'd punched all the air from his lungs, the Doctor got up without a word and trudged inside to the couch, leaving his coffee behind.

I hesitated for a few moments, pinching the bridge of my nose with all that regret slapping me in the face. Just like I'd guessed, whoever Em was, she'd been very close, very important to him. Why else would he look like I'd just brought a ghost out of a grave? Berating myself nonstop, I forced myself to stand up and follow him. If only to apologize and promise to never talk about it or bring her up again.

The Doctor sat hunched over on the edge of the couch, head in his hands as if it weighed far too much. Knowing that I caused it didn't lessen the assault of so many negative emotions swirling around him like a storm. It just made my guilt rise up just as strong, but I clamped down hard on it as I reached out to brush a hand over his shoulder. Not quite touching in case he recoiled from it.

That touch didn't even get a flinch out of him.

"I'm sorry. I'm really sorry, Doctor. I shouldn't have said anything." It took a monumental effort to keep my voice from cracking, but it still wobbled quite a bit. The guilt and knowing that at least he didn't recoil yet made me bold enough to set my hand firmly against his shoulder. So much grief and loneliness battered at me that I almost fell in despair as well, but I wouldn't let him notice that. "The TARDIS might have wanted me to see that, but it doesn't mean I had a right to it. Don't feel like you owe me an answer. You don't."

Gnawing on my lip, I gave his shoulder a firm squeeze, letting him feel my apology at full strength. Not even knowing if I succeeded at it. As sneakily as I dared, I tried drifting away from him, wanting him to give him his own private space.

"Wait." The Doctor's hand reached up and grasped my own in a grip so strong, I couldn't wiggle out of it even if I wanted to. Though it came out too tight, too in control, he didn't bother hiding the chaos in his mind. "All this time and you haven't asked any questions. Not like Rose. Why?"

Blinking, I came around next to him. Slowly, in case he didn't want me to go somewhere, but while the hand had mine in a vice-like grip, the arm was loose and placid enough as I perched on the edge of the couch next to him. He had the feel of a deer caught in the headlights. Tense enough and afraid enough that the slightest wrong move would send him running off, never to come back.

I chose my words very carefully, letting him feel my emotions as best he could—the full extent of his empathic abilities still unknown to me. "I…I guess because I know you still haven't…I don't know…worked through things. Not enough to talk about anyway. Call it my empathy or common sense, but I can tell that sometimes you want to talk to someone but…don't want to or something." My lips actually managed a smile of sorts, though I don't know if it worked. "But if you also want to talk to someone, ever, you should know that I'm willing to listen. Only if you really want to, though. I don't want you to think that I'm forcing it out of you. That's not what I do to people. Friends, especially."

In the silence, I felt a lot of adrenaline drain from me, leaving me tired and just hoping that I didn't make an idiot out of myself by talking too much.

The Doctor's eyes drifted away from me. Far away, like he had gone someplace other than the TARDIS console. He didn't let go of my hand once, or lessen the pressure, which might have been a good sign. Muscles in his jaw worked visibly beneath the skin, he swallowed several times. Slowly, the maelstrom around his mind stopped its spinning. Didn't stop completely, but seemed to slow down enough to give him some sort of anchor.

"Em…Magpie…we got into so much trouble," he murmured, almost too quietly for me to hear.

I tensed for a moment, not sure if he was willingly telling me this or felt guilt tripped into it.

The Doctor must have noticed. When he looked back at me, there didn't seem to be any sort of guilt or coercion in his face. He'd made up his mind. "I know what you said, but you do deserve an explanation."

With a smile that felt easy rather than forced, I backed down a little. "All right then. So, if you were as troublesome then as you are now, that must have been a lot of trouble." Very poor attempt at getting the conversation on track, but it seemed to convince the Doctor.

The lips barely twitched, but that was better than nothing. "Loads of it. The TARDIS? Didn't get any sort of permission to fly her. Em dared me to steal her right from under everyone's noses." Memory danced behind his eyes. Memories that I couldn't even begin to imagine.

"Sounds like an awesome woman." One I could be jealous of, someone to keep up with the Doctor.

Now a true smile flashed across his face. "She was absolutely fantastic." A hand ran over his head and face, eyes retreating even farther away. "Loved going after mysteries and adventures even more than I did. Drug me along sometimes. Always ended up coming back with some souvenir. That thing you took from Statten? She'd have loved that."

For some reason, I didn't want to think of that as a compliment. Too many bright and shining emotions had started flashing through the Doctor's mental barriers the longer he talked about her. At once, I squashed any semblance of jealousy and shoved it far into the back of my mind. I'd deal with it later. The Doctor was finally talking to me. "So is that why she was called Magpie? Or did they call her that the same way they call you Doctor?"

A more thoughtful look danced in those eyes and a small frown pinched the area between his eyebrows. "Don't know, actually. She was always Magpie—only a few people called her Em—even as kids, but she never complained about the name." A reminiscent smile turned his face into something kinder and he didn't quite look like the 'Doctor' anymore. Just someone remembering a close friend. "She was an empath like you, actually. Just as quick to see the best in everyone, no matter what they'd done or if they wanted her to." A swiftly descending blanket of bitterness and old, old wounds wiped that smile off his face. "Her compassion is what got her in trouble with the Council and made them exile her. I…hadn't thought that they would go so far as to kill her until it happened."

Biting my lip, I nodded slowly, recognizing the tensing up of his voice as territory he still didn't want to talk about to anyone, even me. I could tell, though, that he and Em had to have been a lot closer than he'd admitted. "So the memory I saw…."

"Was the last time I ever saw her." The Doctor blinked, pulling himself out of the past to focus on me. Unshed tears gave his eyes a gleam, softened them as he left them unguarded. A full Time Lord unveiled for me to see, or at least part of one. A slight shudder passed through him. So small I almost missed it save for the way his hand moved in mine. "The two of you are so alike it's…not easy sometimes."

While part of me trembled at the infinity behind his eyes—a powerful being that I knew about but hadn't truly realized existed behind the Doctor's carefree behavior—I found that it didn't really scare me at all. Even with the sour taste of jealousy in my mouth, I kept myself from letting him see it. The Doctor trusted me enough to see this side of him. If he caught any glimpse of that, any progress we'd made would be thrown right out the window, not to mention cruel and petty. My heart ached enough for him. Though my barriers still felt shaky, I lowered them further so he could feel everything I didn't have the right words for.

"Doctor, I'm sorry I remind you of her. If it's too hard for you, you can drop me off anytime or just tell me and I'll…I'll stop doing whatever it is I'm doing. I don't want to remind you of…."

"No!" Such ferocity entered the Doctor's attitude and lit a fire inside him, glittering in the depths of his eyes. It felt like only a hint of what he was capable of. He turned around, facing me more directly and, if it were even possible, even gripped my hand with more strength. "Don't you dare start changing yourself. Not for me, not for anyone. If I didn't want you or…or didn't want to remember, trust me, I wouldn't have brought you along in the first place."

With my eyes burning unshed tears, I managed a smile and what I thought came out as a reassuring nod. I could feel the hardening of those softer emotions already, even though I felt a certain triumph at the openness of the conversation. Any longer and the Doctor would probably close up so tightly, I wouldn't get this much out of him again for a very long time. If at all. "What about you always saying that you'll toss me off if I give you too much more trouble? Should I just ignore you now?" A weak sort of attempt at humor, but I had to keep the Doctor from closing on me before it's too late.

The Doctor snorted, a smile, a real one, making its way easily to his face. "You already ignore me, so what would be the difference?" Though he might have tried to hide it, the Doctor all but sagged in relief, relaxing his hold on my hand until they barely touched. "Are you sure you're all right?" He added, a belated bit of concern working its way free.

I shook my head. "Don't worry about me, Doctor. I'm the one who should be asking you that question. I'm not the one who had to live through those memories again." I reached out and gave his shoulder a quick squeeze. "How's this? I promise that I'll be fine but only if I'm sure that _you_ are going to be okay. Remember that you don't have to be Mister-Tough-Guy-Time-Lord all the time. Not with me."

The Doctor straightened, but it wasn't him withdrawing, more like I'd startled him. His eyebrows rose quite a bit, just a fragment of momentary, habitual panic making its way to the surface. Perhaps he'd never been told that before. Or maybe Magpie…Em…had said something similar to him in the past. Either way, I'd never seen him as honestly grateful as when he gave my hand a responding squeeze. That proved to be all the answer I needed. He wasn't one for words.

After a pause when I actually started getting shy, the Doctor released me and lurched to his feet, a long, deep sigh whistling out through his lungs. He ran both his hands over his face and head, as to rub some life back into them. When he turned around again, the mask I'd gotten so used to seeing had already sliding back into place. But at least I knew that it could be lifted, and willingly. "Right then. Rose should be getting up soon, but I say this calls for one more cup of coffee before we have to deal with her." A quirky smile tilted his lips, but I sensed that the humor, while kind of forced, had some genuine feeling behind it.

Swallowing the knot in my throat—mostly from missing that open, sensitive Doctor already—I managed a grin bigger than his. "Just finished the one you left me. Thanks, by the way. Then again," I added as I saw the little signs of the Doctor's disappointment sagging his expression. "I've never said no to coffee before and I especially won't start now. Not when your coffee seems to be better than anything Starbucks can come up with." I hopped to my feet, all too easily sliding into the usual banter with him once more. "I'll get it this time."

"Right, just make sure you're back soon enough so we're done before Rose gets here." The Doctor made a face. "Then we'd have to share."

Laughing a little, I made my way back towards the kitchen.

"Oh, and Jessica? Thanks."


End file.
